


I drink to paradise and death and the lie of love

by brandywine421



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Global Pandemic, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-21 01:21:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1532390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"How did I miss this?" Bruce asked, nodding to where Tony's hand was still on Steve's upturned cheek.</p>
<p>Tony shifted and let out a soft sigh.  "Pepper started it.  But.  Well.  Things went a little sideways and now there's this."</p>
<p>"The three of you?" Bruce asked.  He really was spending too much time in the lab.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I drink to paradise and death and the lie of love

**Author's Note:**

> This started out for Nano 2013 but fizzled out like most of my ideas when there were just too many characters and plots overtaking the story I intended to tell. It has all my normal pitfalls - it starts in the middle as if turning on a soap opera that's been playing before you came in the room and it winds through drama that can't be fixed.
> 
> With that in mind, this story is one of my favorites that I've worked on in this fandom. It's thoroughly Joss'd after IM3, Thor 2 and Cap 2 and I'm almost positive some of the things have been used in other stories I've written via scavenging; but it has some scenes that I just can't let go of. Parts 1 and 2 are here and after months of not being able to bridge the pieces of part 3 together, I think it works just as well open-ended here without my mess of trying to braid the remaining dangling threads ruining these parts. YOLO.
> 
> I request amnesty.

"Natasha's got it.  Clint, too," Tony said, sitting down heavily in Bruce's bubbling lab.  
  
"Shit.  Are you having symptoms yet?" Bruce replied, hurrying over to his side.  They were both worn out but there was too much on the line for them to take a break.  
  
"No, but Cap's still making everyone go for check-ins every 24 hours.  No fever, mild dehydration which I already got treated for," Tony said, flashing the Band-Aid on his elbow.  "I'm hiding from mandatory naptime to see what you've found."  
  
Bruce wasn't a true biologist but all hands were on deck for the pandemic and he was trying things the normal epidemiologists wouldn't be able to get their hands on.  Asgardian magical cures and radiation and gene therapy; he was willing to try anything.  The bodies were lining the streets and the rioting was worse than any villain they'd ever faced.  
  
"Bruce?  Is there - Tony, aren't you supposed to be resting?" Steve stepped into the room.  He looked worse than Tony and Bruce combined.  
  
"Jesus, Steve, sit the hell down – are you getting sick?" Bruce demanded.  
  
Tony put his hand on the back of Steve's neck and the taller man leaned into his touch.  "No, Cap has declared war on sleep.  How many days now?"  
  
"Twelve," Steve sighed.  
  
"Steve, you have to sleep," Bruce said, startled.  "Your body heals, recovers when you sleep and -  "  
  
"I've already been benched," Steve said, sagging backwards in the chair and swallowing thickly.  "Fell off the fire truck again."  
  
" _Again_?" Tony asked.  
  
"I'm banned from the ladder.  It's very tall," Steve mumbled.  "Back to the point – have you found anything?"  
  
"I'd like to draw some blood, from both of you.  Tony's completely normal and with his health problems, he should have been one of the first people to get sick.  I want to check the antibodies."  
  
Tony was strumming his fingers through Steve's hair but he shrugged his acceptance.  He didn't even protest Bruce mentioning his health problems which told Bruce everything he needed to know about his exhaustion.  
  
"Whatever you need.  Is there a bed somewhere close or do I need to be awake for it?" Steve asked.  
  
"Come on, we'll have a cuddle pile, yeah?" Tony leaned over and kissed his cheek.  
  
"Not in front of the troops," Steve mumbled, already drifting.  
  
Bruce glanced between them.  _Oh_.  "Help me get him somewhere other than my shoulder," Tony said, ignoring his look.  
  
Steve sat up abruptly.  "What?"  
  
"Bed.  Now.  Four hours mandatory," Bruce ordered.  
  
"Oh.  Yeah," Steve said, scrubbing his eye with a knuckle.  "Take the blood first."  
  
Steve had taken over a lot of SHIELD duties after Fury and Hill went into quarantine with the virus and he was the go-to guy for the remaining Council and SHIELD minions in the area.  Bruce could feel the vibration of Cap's phone as he carefully supported him over to the gurneys shoved out of the way in the corner.  
  
"I can't sleep longer than four hours, I – there are supplies coming in and the water treatment plant is going offline for maintenance and…Jane, we have to get Jane from the airfield..."  
  
Tony reached into his pocket and took the buzzing phone away from him as he deflated on the gurney.  "We got it.  Bruce – "  
  
"Yeah, let's get that blood, Cap," Bruce said, turning away long enough to find the needles specifically designed to draw his blood.  When he found what he was looking for, Steve was snoring softly.  "Damn."  
  
"I'm going to shake that fire chief's hand for making this happen.  JARVIS is even worried about him," Tony said.  
  
"How did I miss this?" Bruce asked, nodding to where Tony's hand was still on Steve's upturned cheek.  
  
Tony shifted and let out a soft sigh.  "Pepper started it.  But.  Well.  Things went a little sideways and now there's this."  
  
"The three of you?" Bruce asked.  He really was spending too much time in the lab.  
  
Tony nodded.  "She is flipping her shit in Decon.  Still no symptoms, though."  
  
"Thank God."  
  
Bruce had samples from all the healthy people, mostly family and friends of SHIELD employees without symptoms or prolonged exposure segregated in Decontamination areas of the city.  He'd have to find her sample number from JARVIS and add it to his tests.  
  
"Tap me and then you can take his while he's out.  I'm going to answer some of his texts and pass out," Tony said, holding up Steve's flashing phone.

* * *

  
  
Steve sat up with a jolt, nearly knocking Tony off his chest where he had tangled himself across him on the tiny cot.  
  
Bruce snickered from across the lab.  "Good morning."  
  
"You have to stop waking up like that, Jesus," Tony muttered, scrubbing at his eyes.  
  
"Sorry.  What time is it?" Steve asked, tracing his fingers down Tony's arm lightly to apologize without making his affection too obvious.  
  
Bruce walked over with a sheath of papers.  "I took messages.  You got a few calls from Pepper and she wasn't as forgiving for radio silence but you both look 10 times better."  
  
Tony reached over and scrubbed Steve's overnight beard.  "Had to be over six hours if you're rocking the lumberjack look."  
  
"Is there anything new – " Steve started.  
  
Bruce smiled at him.  "I'm actually glad you asked."  
  
Steve flipped through the messages quickly and a rush of memory hit him.  "Jane – she was supposed to be here at ten."  
  
"Who is this Jane person you keep talking about?" Tony asked through a yawn, not bothering to move or take his legs from across Steve's thighs.  Now that was a little obvious.  
  
"Thor's girl, she was in Denmark.  I promised him I'd get her here," Steve said, his gut sinking.  He moved his legs carefully and stood up before urging Tony off the bed by his arm.  
  
"Don't panic, Cap, she's in Decon with her 'bff'.  I think Pepper is already conspiring with them," Bruce said.  He joined them at the cleanest lab table and filled two mugs with steaming coffee.  
  
That was the second time he'd mentioned Pepper and Steve wondered if Tony had told him something.  Not that it mattered to him, but they all knew that it had to stay a secret.  They had reputations and it was just fun for them, not a relationship.  He knew his place and he'd be damned if he ever mentioned it without explicit permission.  He knew how this worked and he knew keeping it secret was the safest for all involved.  
  
"I have to go see her.  I was supposed to pick her up and Thor's probably freaking out," Steve said, wrapping his hands around the coffee mug.  It was nearly too hot to hold, let alone drink, but the heat burned down his throat and warmed him from the inside.  
  
"How would you know?" Bruce asked.  
  
Thor had started showing up in his dreams weeks ago and since Steve talked in his sleep, Tony and Pepper had caught on quickly.  
  
"He can pick up the hammer," Tony said, his eyes down as he tried to mainline the caffeine.  
  
"Thor's hammer?" Bruce asked, glancing at Steve for a real explanation.  
  
"We were pinned down once and I used his hammer to bust down some walls.  Apparently that's a thing and Odin got involved," Steve hedged.  "Thor started showing up in my dreams, it's hard for them to communicate with us with the Bifrost out of commission but Odin made me his link."  
  
"Where was I when this was going on?" Bruce asked.  "I feel so left out right now."  
  
"You and I were in the lab being smart, Steve however, was in the field being _stupid_ ," Tony replied, shooting a glare his way.  Even if Tony was halfway in retirement from the Avengers thanks to the absent arc reactor, it didn't mean he didn't pout every time he was 'left out'.  
  
Steve rolled his eyes.  "Anyway, I promised Thor I would get Jane to safety as soon as I could.  I need to check on her before I do anything else.  He's Team so it's top priority."  
  
He was doing as much as he could for the sick and the survivors but there was simply too much for him to make much of an impact.  There was too much.  
  
"You guys totally missed where I said I had good news," Bruce said, kicking at the leg of his stool.  
  
"We need some of that," Tony said.  "Lay it on us."  
  
Bruce held up a small vial.  "I might have a cure, or at least a vaccine.  I sent it up to the actual doctors upstairs and they're testing it on the worst cases and – we think its working."  
  
Steve met his eyes and they were bright with hope and optimism.  He had never seen Bruce look that way.  "Are you fucking serious?"  
  
"He's fucking serious," Clint's voice broke through and he stepped in with a crooked grin.  "Just got sprung from medical."  
  
"Bruce, how long did we sleep?" Tony asked slowly.  
  
"Twelve hours.  Give or take.  Every time I offered to wake you both up, I was vetoed," Bruce said.  
  
"But – " Steve started.  
  
"No buts, Cap, you had your adoring public thinking you were a zombie," Natasha said, appearing behind them.  "I'm in charge of getting you back on the floor – the troops are getting restless and they aren't taking Fury's recovery as well as he hoped."  
  
"I thought it was still being tested," Steve said.  The weight and guilt of sleeping for so long was slowly lifting at the thought of an actual cure.  
  
"Who better to test it than us?" Clint grinned.  
  
"Are we sure it works?" Steve asked.  What if it only made them better for a short time – what if he lost them all because of the cure?  
  
"We're sure, Steve, relax, like, two notches – maybe three," Clint said.  
  
"Hey, let's go wash up while Bruce makes more coffee and loads up my tablet with science.  I mean it, Bruce, I want to see everything," Tony pointed at him.  
  
Bruce rolled his eyes.  "JARVIS has everything already, he's the one that vetoed me waking you up, by the way.  Go wash up."  
  
"And shave your Paul Bunyan face, Cap," Clint called after him.  Steve flipped him off but Clint's ringing chuckle was worth it.  
  
"Want to share a shower?" Tony asked when they reached the lab floor's communal shower.  
  
"I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to do this in public.  Did you tell Bruce?" Steve asked.  
  
Tony shrugged.  "Pepper changed the rules."  
  
Steve didn't think it worked that way.  Bucky and Peggy had never changed the rules without discussing it with him first.  
  
"Look, there are feelings involved now, more than friendship, okay?  It's not fair to you, not the way we've been treating you.  You're so much more to us than a fuckbuddy," Tony said.  "Okay?  Say okay."  
  
Tony raised his hand to his cheek, stopping him from turning away.  "Say okay, Steve."  
  
"I can't.  I'll talk to Pepper.  I mean, all I heard for months was that I wasn't allowed to talk about it, so this is a little out of the blue for me," Steve admitted.  "I think you guys should be completely sure.  I mean, it's always been more than a 'fuckbuddy' thing to me.  Right now, we have bigger things to deal with than relationships."  
  
He wasn't sure if he could commit to them.  He wasn't a cheater, he never took lovers he didn't actually love; but Pepper and Tony had been together for years.  What he had with Bucky and Peggy had been new to all of them.  
  
"We'll talk to Pepper when we head to Decon.  Don't even think about going without me," Tony said.  "I'll loan you my beard clipper before you scare the children."  
  
He shook off his thoughts for now and let Tony lead him into the shower.

* * *

  
  
"Steve!  Dammit, where were you?"  
  
Steve only recognized Jane Foster from Thor's dream-messages but she nearly tackled him when he stepped into the room.  He folded his arms around the tiny girl and ignored Pepper's nearby frown.  "Sorry, Dr. Banner sentenced me to an extended nap.  Who got you from the airfield?"  
  
"Sitwell or someone equally annoying," Jane replied.  "Have you heard from Thor?"  
  
"We're going to talk to him shortly, they sent instructions.  His mother is terrifying," Steve said.  
  
"Frigga?  Jesus, you really are on Asgard's speed dial," another girl said, moving beside Jane.  "I'm Darcy and you're more rugged than I expected."  
  
"Hi, Darcy," Steve smiled.  He might keep the beard a few more days.  It seemed to make people happy to see him with hair on his face but they could all use a smile.  He spotted Tony escorting Pepper into a side room and relaxed a notch that he could get this intergalactic phone call working with as small an audience as possible.  "We need water, we should be able to fill up the tub.  How were things in Denmark?"  
  
"Worse than here," Jane replied.  "They don't even have enough troops to do basic body disposal anymore, they're just laying them out and it's spreading the infection double time."  
  
"Bruce thinks he's got something, a cure or a vaccine.  They might tag you into the science teams if you're willing," Steve said.  Jane nodded immediately and he could see why Thor liked her.  
  
"Anything to get out of this loser quarantine.  I mean, the clean beds and food are nice but boring," Darcy said, following them into the bathroom.  
  
"Darcy, can you give us some privacy?  Frigga hates you," Jane said.  
  
Darcy rolled her eyes.  "Fine, but make sure you tell Thor and Sif I said hello.  I'm going to harass the agents by the vending machines."  
  
"Why does Frigga hate her?" Steve asked.  
  
"You'll figure it out after you spend more than ten minutes with her.  I didn't know you were into magic," Jane said.  
  
"I'm not but like you said, for some reason I'm on Asgard's watch-list and I have instructions."  He started running water in the tub, hot as he could stand until the mirror fogged up.  He took his hand and splayed it in the fog and sketched several shapes around the handprint.  "Let's see if this works."  
  
 _"Captain Rogers!  You are late!"_  
  
He winced at the sound of the queen's voice.  "Apologies, Lady Frigga, I was indisposed, but we have Jane and her friend safely in the Tower.  Is Thor available?"  
  
"Are you well?" Frigga asked, her reflection visible in the water through the steam.  "I assume you were not injured?"  
  
"He was tired, he got sentenced to sleep longer than he wanted," Jane chimed in.  Frigga smiled softly when she heard Jane's voice.  "But we made it, all the arrangements were in place and we're locked up in quarantine for now."  
  
"Good, I'll get my son, he's been very worried.  Odin sends his regards, Captain," Frigga said, the pool of water going cloudy but empty of images.  
  
Jane poked him, smirking.  "Odin, huh?"  
  
"Don't start, none of this is my fault," Steve said.  "I didn't know your boyfriend's hammer was magic."  He hesitated.  "That sounds dirty."  
  
"It does, but his hammer is definitely..."  
  
"Jane!  It's so good to see you well!  Are you well?" Thor's face sobered immediately.  
  
"I'm fine, so is Darcy.  Dr. Selvig..." she hesitated.  
  
"He's fine, he's safe in a London SHIELD shelter, he's helping with the research," Steve said.  He felt bad for forgetting to pass it along.  
  
"Captain, I owe you a debt for protecting those I hold dear on Midgard," Thor replied with a dramatic bow.  
  
Steve waved him off.  "That's what friends, and teammates, are for.  I'll leave you two to talk."  
  
"I wish to speak to you before the spell fades, Captain.  You have not been sleeping deeply enough for me to contact you," Thor said.  
  
"I'm in town now, I'm on the case.  I'll come get you, Steve," Jane told him, nodding to the door.  
  
Tony and Pepper were standing outside the bathroom and he groaned when he recognized the impending lecture look on Pepper's face.  "Can I get a pass on my scolding until later?"  
  
"No, you've gotten away without a conversation long enough," Pepper replied, a flash of hurt in her eyes.  
  
"And we don't have too much longer before Natasha's coming to drag you to HQ," Tony added.  
  
Pepper put her hand on his arm, her warm fingers pressing hard.  "I'm worried about you, please.  Can we talk?"  
  
He flushed with guilt.  Of course she'd be worried, she was stuck in Decon while the rest of them were out trying to contain the anarchy and mass death.  "Sure."  
  
She rolled her eyes and dragged him toward her temporary room lined with bunk beds.    
  
"Playing us hot and cold, I see how it is," Tony remarked, shooing the mingling roommates from the room and closing the door behind them.  
  
"I just feel like I'm in trouble and I don't know why.  I've got Norse Gods, computers and now you guys ready to nag me.  I have things to do," Steve said.  He didn't care if he was being petulant, he didn't like being scolded.  He refused to think about the fact that Peggy and Bucky would have understood.  He focused on the fact that Pepper and Tony weren't soldiers.  
  
Pepper hummed thoughtfully, pulling him down and kissing him softly.  "Relax."  
  
"I wish she lectured me like that," Tony muttered.  
  
"Ignore him," Pepper said.  "He's a failure at looking after you; at least I'm used to Tony's way of coping but you're a hot mess, Steve."  
  
"I'm fine, did you tell her I wasn't fine?" Steve glared at Tony who raised his hands in defense.  
  
"No, she got that all on her own, I think you're fine," Tony said.  
  
"He didn't rat you out," Pepper said, smoothing down his hair.  "You're always on the news and we get CC video of some of the meetings and you looked awful.  Are you eating at all, sleeping?"  
  
"I missed some sleep," Steve said.  Tony moved over and tugged him down to sit on the bed.  "Do I look that bad?"  
  
"You look better now that you've given yourself time to rest," Tony said.  "You've got your color back and your eyes are bright again, you're fine."  
  
"But the beard has to go," Pepper said, frowning.  
  
"It's growing on me," Tony smiled, stealing a kiss.  
  
Sometimes it was okay to be coddled.  And it meant a lot that Tony understood even if Pepper was still on the fence.  
  
"That's what I'm afraid of.  I'm stuck in this glorified sorority house and while the tweeners don't drool over Tony in front of me, I have to hear them swoon over you and keep my mouth shut," Pepper said.  She sat down on his thigh, scissoring his leg between her own.  "You're ours, if you want to be."  
  
Steve didn't know what to say to that.  He wanted it, God, he wanted the promise of having someone to come home to, someone to love him and let him love them back.  
  
"Pep and I, we love each other but there's always been something missing," Tony said, his lashes hiding the emotion Steve picked up instead from his voice.  
  
"There are things he'll never be able to give me, and things I can never be for him.  But you fit, you make us all fit.  You belong with us," Pepper said, tilting his chin so he would meet her eyes.  
  
"If you feel the same, if you love us, too, then we want you to be with us, inside and out," Tony said.  
  
"I am, I do, already," Steve whispered.  
  
"We're not ashamed of you, we aren't going to hide what we have," Pepper said.  "No more hiding or sneaking around."  
  
It hit him suddenly how much he needed these people.  How much he treasured their friendship, how much he craved their touch.  "I don't know if I can do this without you.  I...I'll take it, whatever," he said softly.  
  
"Oh, Hon," Pepper sighed, pulling him into an embrace.  "You'll have everything and more, none of this _whatever_ business."  
  
"You should listen to her," Tony said, sliding his hand down his spine.  "She's always right."

* * *

  
  
Tony watched Steve from the corner of his eye where he was corralled with Fury and Hill in the communications room behind the glass.  
  
"Any reason you're watching Cap like he's going to disappear?" Clint asked, sitting down in front of him to block his view.  
  
"Just wondering what the plan is now that we've got a cure growing in our labs downstairs," Tony replied.  He wanted to have more time with Pepper and Cap, time to enjoy the best thing to ever happen to him.  Pepper was his rock, his touchstone for years but after Extremis; Steve had fallen into his life like a missing limb, the completion of Tony's puzzle.  He had resigned himself to having Steve as a friend, a partner in the Avengers but not his bed.  Pepper had made him the happiest man alive when she let him have them both.  
  
"Try again.  Are you banging Steve?  Inquiring minds want, no, we need to know," Clint said.  
  
"Yeah, I am.  Pepper, too, but yeah.  We love him," Tony replied evenly.  He didn't meet his friend's eyes but he didn't have to.  He didn't care what he thought, but Steve would want his team to understand.  
  
"Oh.  Wow, I didn't expect that."  
  
"We've never been conventional.  This is the first apocalypse that we've had no control over.  Me and Pep, we don't have any family of our own, just each other, and Steve...he's part of that, too."  
  
"Huh," Clint said.  "Whatever makes you happy, just don't break him, or yourself.  Nat and I thought it was weird that only you and Pepper had antibodies that matched Steve's superserum'ed antibodies.  In a way, sex with Captain America might have saved the human race.  Maybe I should get in on that."  Clint sized up Steve thoughtfully through the glass.  
  
"We always use protection.  And he's claimed, asshole.  I should talk to Bruce," Tony said.  He wasn't let in on that particular part of the research.  
  
"Later, he's having a mandatory nap.  Fury called off Cap's health maintenance rules and Cap almost blew a gasket until he reinstated them."  
  
"Where was I?" Tony questioned.  He had barely let Steve out of his sight, coordinating his meetings to be near Steve's.  He'd seen the fire ladder footage and been dressed down thoroughly by Pepper for letting his sleep deprivation get so out of hand.  
  
Clint rolled his eyes.  "Nat and I aren't sleeping with him or you but we're always watching your backs.  In other words, you don't have to watch him but you do have to have mandatory lunch."  
  
"I'm going to have lunch with Steve," Tony protested.  The official part of their relationship was so new that Tony needed to spend as much time as possible with him.  
  
"No, he's going to have lunch with Fury and Hill, you're going to have lunch with Natasha and the fourth shift agents.  She needs your head in the game to get back to speed on what we missed when we were in medical.  She wants you to help check them for side effects since they got the same shot that she and I got.  JARVIS could probably check their temperatures but he's not talking to Natasha."  
  
"What did she do?" Tony asked, surprised.  JARVIS helped everyone on the task force these days, despite his judgy AI protocols.  
  
"Don't know, you can find out at lunch," Clint grinned.

* * *

  
  
Pepper led the way into the War Room in the Tower's re-purposed penthouse.  Steve and Fury were holding court in the room full of civilians, soldiers and agents.  JARVIS lit up the entire wall with holograms and maps.  
  
She glared at Clint until he moved over to give her the seat beside Tony where he was tapping furiously on his tablet.  He glanced at her and pulled another tablet out of his bag and passed it to her.  
  
"You're on the media relations committee, it's a priority to spread the word to everyone where the vaccine distribution centers are located and you'll have to play liaison to the locals to avoid panic.  We have to make sure they have enough before they open the doors," Tony started.  
  
"Tony.  Pay attention," Steve said suddenly.  
  
Pepper winked at him and appreciated his blush before she powered up her tablet to see if JARVIS had her loaded up.  
  
She was relieved to finally be free of Decon and able to help.  Normally when Tony (and now Steve) risked their lives to save the world, she was sidelined, which was fine with her.  But with the global economy shut down and Stark Industries on the indefinite backburner; she was eager to do something useful.  
  
This enemy was one they couldn't fight.  They needed everyone, civilians and all, to take control of the chaos.  There had never been a global pandemic to compare this to, the 20% survival rate and the flu that was immune to all traditional treatments; there were no battle plans for this.  No precedents.  
  
Fury and Hill did the best they could but SHIELD wasn't as well-regarded as they needed to be to combine forces – but everyone knew Captain America and slowly but surely, the remaining governments came together to share information and updates.  Tony's arc reactor technology was powering the east and west coasts with the Midwestern grids still working to expand.  America was better off than a lot of other countries and they were spearheading the research.  
  
She hoped Bruce would get the recognition he deserved for coming up with the cure.  
  
Tony laced one hand with hers without missing a tap with his stylus.  
  
She tried to pay attention to Steve and Fury's Q  & A but she was distracted by the outline of Steve's dog tags underneath his too-tight shirt and the dual rings hanging between them.  
  
She loved Tony with everything she had but he was never fully hers.  He was spread too thin, they both were - caught up in business and superheroing at the expense of their own hearts.  
  
Steve changed things.  His body and subdued confidence had caught her attention at first, hell, he caught everyone's attention when he was 'defrosted'.  But there was a sadness, a loneliness around him that she couldn't handle.  When he was leading the team, he was in utter control but off the field, he was lost.  
  
Tony had accused her of trying to adopt him like a stray puppy when she first brought up starting something with him and she realized that he was protective because he already had feelings for Steve.  Tony took care of his own and he had claimed Steve as his responsibility long before Pepper decided she wanted him, too.  He wasn't willing to share any more than he was willing to cheat on her.  
  
And they worked.  Polyamory never worked, ever, but Steve brought a light into their relationship that they'd never had.  He was extra gentle, and extra curious and she wanted to get inside his head.  She wanted to know what made him tick.  She wanted him to be able to hold a place in his heart for both Tony and herself.  
  
She squeezed Tony's hand and he flicked his eyes to her, raising his eyebrows in a question.  
  
She smiled.  She got to have them both and she was going to do her damnedest to keep them safe and loved.

* * *

  
  
"Director Fury, do you have a moment?" Steve had spent the last few hours organizing the troops and volunteers to start the first official rollout of the vaccine to necessary personnel before sending them out to set up checkpoints for distribution.  
  
"Talk," Fury said, not looking away from the stacks of paper on his desk.  
  
"Thor would like to visit and offer his assistance," Steve said.  
  
Fury raised his head and stared at him.  "When the hell did you talk to Thor?"  
  
"I don't understand it completely, but he comes to me in my dreams." Steve said.  
  
"And you didn't think to mention this?" Fury asked darkly.  
  
Steve shrugged, avoiding the Director's eyes.  Fury had been fighting the symptoms of the flu for weeks and it honestly hadn't crossed his mind to worry the man.  "He wanted me to check on his girl, I didn't think I needed to file a report.  But Odin wants..."  
  
"Wait.  You talk to Odin?"  
  
Steve continued to avoid his glare.  "Thor's hammer is apparently _serious business_ and he's taken an interest in my 'adventures'."  
  
"We're going to talk about all of that after this particular apocalypse is dealt with.  Is the Bifrost repaired?" Fury asked.  
  
"I don't think so but they have other ways.  Thor's worried about Jane and, well, the human race, so he'd like to come down.  Things are a mess right now and I didn't want to okay an intergalactic visit without clearing it with someone first," Steve said.  
  
"You were in charge long enough that you could have cleared it yourself," Fury said after a beat.  
  
"I'm a soldier, not a politician," Steve countered.  "I keep trying to tell Odin that but he insists on trying to make me his liaison for Midgard."  
  
" _Definitely_ talking about this, at length later, Captain," Fury said.  "What do you need to make it happen quietly?"  
  
"Water, I was planning on using Tony's indoor pool to avoid making a scene outside," Steve said.  
  
"Good.  I want to talk to him when he arrives.  We'll have to find a place for him to fit," Fury said.  
  
"Understood.  Thank you," Steve said.  
  
"Cap.  We're all lucky you were around for this.  Wouldn't trust must many people sitting in my chair while I'm out," Fury said.  
  
"Sir, you don't trust anyone period," Steve snorted, raising his hand to wave as he stepped back into the bustling hallway.  
  
Jane's friend, Darcy, perked up from across the hall and waved her handheld computer at him.  "Hiya, Steve!  I just got my assignment and that's you."  
  
"I'm sorry, what?" Steve replied.  When did he become an assignment?  
  
"Scary ninja girl says you need help, something about you being late to meetings because you spend too much time being a pansy," Darcy said.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
She rolled her eyes.  "I watched you, Stevie, you talked to every person in the computer bay before you made it up here and you're late for your briefing for the press conference.  Natasha thinks having emotions makes you a pansy."  
  
"Did you just call me Stevie?  Nobody gets to call me 'Stevie'," he frowned.  "I don't need an assistant."  
  
"I'm a volunteer so I am volunteering to assist you.  Look, there's not much I can help with around here but I can totally keep you on the mandatory schedule – which means we're going to get your rations and then go to the briefing.  Jane says that Thor ordered her to look after you."  
  
"God, why is everyone trying to look after me?" Steve groaned.  She raised her finger to actually explain but he waved her off.  "Never mind, just try and be nice?"  
  
"You're nice enough for the both of us," Darcy beamed.  "Come on, rations and then boring meeting number one."  
  
"Actually, I need you to find Tony or Bruce and make sure the pool level is cleared out by this afternoon, we need it to get Thor down here, can you manage that?"  
  
"Duh," Darcy said but she didn't let go of his arm and steered him down the hall.  "After you're fed and watered, I'll get to work on that."

* * *

  
  
"How goes it, Cap?" Clint asked, collapsing in the seat across from him in the mostly deserted office he'd commandeered after escaping Darcy.  "Where's your minder?"  
  
"Screw you," he said, exhausted from the girl's frenetic energy.  "Natasha is not as funny as she thinks she is."  
  
Clint hesitated.  "You don't get it, do you?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Everyone saw you fall off that fire truck, Cap," Clint said.  "For weeks, the world's been watching you pull shit together and then you fell like a stone.  The allegedly strongest human in the world took a nosedive off a 40 foot ladder - it wasn't exactly a boost for morale."  
  
"But I got back up, I didn't even break anything," Steve protested.  
  
Clint scoffed.  "Yeah, we know that but your adoring public doesn't care.  People thought you were sick."  
  
"Oh," Steve realized.  "I should have made a statement."  
  
Clint rolled his eyes.  "You did, asshole.  It only made it worse because you almost fell asleep onstage.  Doc Morris had to make a follow up statement just to keep the peace, told them about your whole hibernation thing."  
  
"The ice?" Steve was still thinking about the clusterfuck of showing that much weakness to the world.  If their enemies weren't dead yet, they could have attacked them.  He was asleep for 12 hours.  
  
"No, he explained that you have to sleep to heal.  'Point is, you're lucky you don't have a nurse following you around," Clint said.  "Darcy's actually the lesser of a lot of evils."  
  
"She's fine, I just don't have time for her right now," Steve admitted.  "There's a lot going on and I'm stuck in this Tower because I have a shadow with no clearance."  
  
"Did you ever think we need you just as much behind the scenes as we do on the front lines?  We're all benched, by the way, but we aren't complaining because we're still too relieved to be alive," Clint said.  "Brief me on the Asgard visit.  I need to sort out the rumor from the truth.  Did you sleep with Thor?"  
  
"What?  No!  Who said that?" Steve asked.  Thor was definitely attractive but he was in love with Jane and Steve was, well, taken.  
  
"Figured.  So what's the real story?"  
  
Steve sighed.  "I used his hammer.  Mjolnr."  
  
Clint stared at him.  "You can pick it up?"  
  
"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to!  It was an emergency situation," Steve said.  "And then Thor got all weird and his dad started talking to me when I was asleep and now Thor talks to me when I'm asleep and I still don't understand why it's such a big deal."  
  
"Oh, wow.  Nobody is supposed to be able to lift the hammer except Thor.  What if they think you're going to steal it?  Did SHIELD ask you to steal it?" Clint asked, thoughtful.  
  
"I don't want his hammer.  I like my shield," Steve frowned.  
  
"Well, you better talk to Thor about it before you get kidnapped to Asgard.  Tony and Pepper would be very upset," Clint said.  
  
"I don't know why you're my friend," Steve said, flicking a pencil at him that he caught without turning his head.  
  
"I told Darcy you were on the children's floor," Clint said.  "She'll be suitably distracted for a while."  
  
"Yeah, okay.  We're friends again," Steve agreed, accepting a fist bump and Clint's smug grin.

* * *

  
  
Tony's brain was overflowing with stats and algorithms that JARVIS was still loading on his multiple monitors and holograms.  
  
He spent years making weapons and then flying suits and now he was in charge of organizing safe body disposal for the millions of rotting bodies.  Burning was the easiest and safest option and mass graves were an option he was trying to avoid.  
  
"Hey.  You busy?"  
  
"That's a pretty dumb question, Cap," Tony said, relieved to have a break.  He slid over on the couch and patted the seat beside him.  It was nice that they had their own space again now that families and survivors were trickling back to their homes now that the recovery was imminent.  It wasn't the penthouse, but with Pepper and Steve with him; this apartment was home.  
  
"Guess so," Steve smiled tiredly, sitting down heavily.  Tony was in hard copy hell.  
  
Steve curled a finger toward him and Tony slid closer to share the cushion, ignoring the pending avalanche of paperwork.  "What's up?"  
  
"I should be happy, you know?" Steve asked, leaning his head on his shoulder.  "But I don't have time to appreciate the cure or the Asgardians.  Strategy's supposed to be my thing but I don't know how to plan for something like this.  There's just so much."  
  
"Do I need to have a talk with Fury?" Tony asked.  He hadn't faced down the man in weeks and he could go for a good argument.  
  
"No.  All I've been doing is complaining, I'm not a special snowflake," Steve sighed.  Tony chuckled.  Steve had definitely come a long way in his modern education.  "Where's Pepper?"  
  
"She's working with communications to get the word out and to coordinate delivery schedules," he answered.  "Want to make out or did you just come for a mandatory cuddle?"  
  
"Can I get both?" Steve smiled softly.  
  
Tony leaned in and kissed him, tasting the familiar mint and heat of his mouth.  Steve took tooth care very seriously but everyone had their OCD quirks.  
  
He liked moments like this, quiet and soft, muted.  Steve was warm and welcoming, a tender blanket of affection different from anything he'd ever known.  Pepper didn't make him feel like this.  
  
 _"Oh my God – you assholes!"_  
  
Steve pulled away and slumped back, annoyed.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Tony demanded.  Steve slid his hand down his arm to calm him down, the touch tethering him.  
  
"That's Darcy, Jane's bff and my 'minder'," Steve said with finger quotes before turning to her.  "And you are not supposed to be here."  
  
"You're not supposed to be making out with Pepper's man, either!" she protested.  
  
"He's Pepper's man, too," Tony said.  "But more importantly, it's none of your business.  You're fired."  
  
Darcy puffed up.  "You can't fire me – I'm a volunteer and it's not my fault Captain Hide and Seek over here is so hard to find.  You're supposed to be pep talking the fire and rescue right now."  
  
"I already did, I made a sweep of the medical tents," Steve replied.  
  
"Of course you did.  Had to talk to them one on one instead of giving a speech.  You're such a soft touch," Tony said fondly.  Steve traced the curve of his arm again, giving him a shiver.  
  
"It was just easier that way.  I know a lot of those guys by now and they're overstressed and worried about their families.  Or what's left of them.  So I got the pep talks out of the way and made sure all the plans were understood," Steve said.  
  
Darcy thumped him on the back of the head.  "You're making me look bad.   As your babysitter, I should know who you're allowed to make out with."  She glanced at her watch.  "If you can make it a quickie, we can get started on Thor so Jane will stop harassing me."  
  
Steve sighed.  "Find me later?"  Tony hated the disappointed look on his face.  
  
Tony glared at Darcy who actually looked apologetic.  "I can tag along and drag you away afterwards.  Pepper will be done by then," Tony decided.  
  
"I'll make sure she is.  I mean, Thor and Jane are going to need time to bang after he gets here so we'll fake a meeting," Darcy said.  
  
Steve smiled.  "That would be very nice of you."  
  
"Maybe we can find a use for her.  Give us a minute, Minion."  
  
Darcy grinned and saluted, closing the door as she left.  
  
"Now, we were in the middle of something, Scruffy," Tony said.  Steve rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss.  He had a moment to find.

* * *

  
  
"I apologize, Steven, I was unaware of Father's plans," Thor said, guiding him apart from the others after the mercifully uneventful crossover from Asgard to Midgard.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Steve turned them further into the corner before Tony and Pepper could interrupt.  He was still figuring out how their triad worked but so far, it included them sticking close.  He liked Thor, they had gotten through some tough scraps before and he didn't question his loyalty or his intentions.  Odin was a different story altogether.  
  
"The Allfather wishes to arrange a courtship with you and Lady Sif.  She has rejected all warriors of Asgard and Odin believes you and she would unite our two realms as well as be a fertile match," Thor said.  
  
"He wants us to go out?"  He had enough problems right now without an arranged marriage thrown into the mix.  
  
"Lady Sif is quite impressed by your prowess and you are the first suitor she has not cursed upon first mention.  I was only told after our last conversation or I would deterred his instructions to her."  
  
"But...I'm already taken, Thor," Steve said.  
  
"She would only need to be one of your wives, although it would please Father if she was your primary wife," Thor said absently.  "Now that you have proven yourself a worthy warrior and ally, he is eager to create a formal partnership between our people."  
  
"But I don't even know her, and I'm already involved," Steve said urgently.  He had no experience with the politics of Royalty, let alone Alien Royalty.  
  
Thor put his hand on his arm.  "I will let Lady Sif know your heart is taken, but I cannot promise that Father will not bring it up to you in your next conversation.  He cannot bend you to his rule when you are not of Asgard."  
  
"Everything okay over here?" Tony gave Steve a questioning look and moved to his side.  "You look sneaky."  Steve knew Tony meant 'nervous' but was nice enough not to say it.  
  
"The Allfather wants me to marry Lady Sif," Steve blurted out.  He wouldn't be able to keep this to himself and he didn't want to.  He would need Tony's help even if he wasn't looking forward to Pepper's jealousy.  He'd seen the glares she gave to the ladies that he talked to going about his rounds.  
  
"Oh.  Wow," Tony said, blinking.  He wouldn't meet Steve's gaze but his eyes were dark.  He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Tony was thinking.  
  
"His favor is held by another, my father will not pursue the idea if Steve is spoken for.  I felt it only fair to bring it to his attention as soon as I was made aware of the plot," Thor replied.  He clasped Steve's hand.  "Come, tell me of Earth's recovery and where we can help.  We will speak of this later."  
  
"Yes, later for you two, but soon for us," Tony said to Steve under his breath.  "Come on, Blondies, let's get back to our guests, we have to discuss sleeping arrangements.  Lady Sif's room will be far away from ours."  
  
Thor made a surprised sound and smiled widely when Steve flushed.  "I understand, I shall assume the lovely Mrs. Potts is a member of your union?"  
  
"Yeah, we're trying it out," Steve said.  Tony preened for a moment and Steve elbowed him.  
  
"I am glad to hear that you have allowed yourself to find happiness, Brother Steve," Thor chuckled.  
  
Tony elbowed Steve with a grin.  "Yeah, _Brother_ Steve."

* * *

  
  
"She's beautiful," Pepper said, settling on the loveseat with Tony.  Sif laughed across the room at the boisterous warriors.  "Are we doing the wrong thing?"  Ever since he'd told her about Thor's ladyfriend, she'd been wondering if they'd jumped into this too soon.  She didn't want to lose Steve but she didn't want to be the reason he was denied a chance to fall in love with one person instead of two.  
  
Tony glanced at her, his face layered with confusion, and hurt.  "You'd just let him go?  Just like that?"  
  
"No – just.  He's always going to feel like second best with us because he joined us so late in our relationship.  What if he'd be happier with a partner that's his own?" she asked.  She'd always been open with Tony and she hoped he would understand the difference between a conversation and a decision.  
  
"I didn't lie to him this morning.  I didn't invite him into our relationship just to let him go.  I'm…wow.  I thought we were on the same page," Tony said, looking away from her and sagging slightly against the backrest.  
  
"I'm not backing out of this, I meant what I said, too.  I'm not letting either of you go but if he wanted out, I wouldn't blame him," Pepper said.  She had the sinking feeling she was digging into a trap she'd set for herself.  
  
"He won't want out, not unless we give him a reason," Tony replied.  She put an arm around him and leaned over for a kiss but he turned so she had to kiss his cheek.  "I don't know think it's a good time for that right now.  We have guests.  You should go talk to the woman you think is better for Steve than us while I go back to work."  
  
"Don't walk away from this," Pepper said, grabbing his arm before he could stand up.  "I'm just trying to talk to you, I'm not making any plans, you can't get mad at me for being honest."  
  
"You should have been honest before we promised him something you weren't willing to give," Tony hissed.  
  
"That's not what I mean," Pepper said.  It hurt that she couldn't talk to Tony.  This wasn't what she wanted.  "I love him, Tony, and I want him to be happy whether it's with us or not," she tried again.  
  
Tony deflated slightly.  "He is happy.  If we make him happy, then he won't have to go anywhere else."  
  
"Excuse me."  Pepper and Tony glanced up at Sif's voice.  "May we speak?  I believe Thor has given you false information."  
  
"So Odin didn't send you here to seduce Steve?" Tony blurted out.  She elbowed him, hard.  They had to be polite to the alien guests.  
  
Sif's face twisted.  "The Allfather has no say in my bedmates and he knows I have no desire to wed.  He had no interest in my consorts until Thor decided to take up with that tiny harlot."  Her eyes darted over to Jane and narrowed distastefully.  
  
"Ouch," Tony whispered and Pepper had to stifle her surprise (and giggle).    
  
Sif returned her attention to them.  "She is _useless_ in battle," she said under her breath and steadied herself.  "No matter.  I did not join Thor on this journey with the intention to find a husband.  I need no man to give my life status.  Of course, I will eagerly take Steven as a lover, but I have no wish to be anyone's wife."  
  
"Why did you come, then?" Pepper asked.  She hoped the woman was more like Thor and less like his trickster brother.  
  
"I have visited Midgard only once before for a brief blink of time.  I wanted to return to see what Thor finds so enchanting but it has been too much of a risk for, as you call it, a 'vacation'.  Odin is convinced Steven is tied to Asgardian legend because he was chosen by Mjolnr and Thor has used it to his advantage to keep an eye on his wench," Sif said, shooting a suspicious glare at the oblivious Jane.  "Still, we were all witness to the plague that has fallen upon your realm and the risk of travel with the damaged Bifrost was judged necessary.  Our companions are here to look after Thor and I am tasked with making sure Steven is unharmed."  
  
"He's not going to like having another babysitter," Pepper said after a long pause.  Pepper trusted him not to start anything with Sif, but the temptation would be there if she followed him around looking the way she did.  
  
"I believe the Allfather knew of your closeness with Steven but he is not of Midgard and assumed you were casual lovers.  I wanted to let you know of my true purpose here, to help your people recover and to experience Earth.  I am not impressed with what I've seen so far.  Pop-Tarts are obviously an acquired taste and your liquor is weak," Sif said.  She hesitated.  "I did see one of those animals, 'cats', and I do think its fur would make a fine lining for a cloak."  
  
"Oh.  JARVIS?" Tony spoke.  
  
"I have made a note of it," the computer replied.  Pepper hoped the note was to keep cats away from Sif and not for a cat-cloak.  
  
"Cats are not meant for fur," Pepper said.  She was relieved with the woman's bluntness but it didn't make her feel better about her doubts, or Tony's reaction to her doubts.  
  
"They do not look like they are meant to be eaten," Sif replied.  
  
"We'll make sure you guys get a rundown of the wildlife before we put you in the field," Tony said, relaxing finally with a small smile.  
  
"I will not intrude on your arrangement, but perhaps," Sif said, her eyes scanning Pepper with interest.  "I would not be opposed to an invitation as a lover."  
  
"Oh, sorry, guys, Sif, we need you over here," Darcy popped up with an apologetic and slightly panicked look.  
  
Sif gave them another small bow and followed her back to the Warriors.  
  
"I'm more worried about Jane than Steve now," Pepper said.  
  
"I don't want to let him go, Pepper," Tony said quietly.  
  
"We're not.  Never, okay?" Pepper whispered, pulling him into an embrace.  
  
"You have to talk to him," Tony said.  
  
"We'll both talk to him when he comes out of wherever he's hiding now," Pepper said.

* * *

  
  
"This is a good idea, Cap," Natasha said, waiting with him outside of the massive tent where they were still seating the volunteers.  
  
"Tony found enough cleared areas to build the pyres and Darcy's agreed to help coordinate the volunteer lists in the Northeast.  If we have to do this, we can at least provide a service for the dead," Steve said.  
  
Natasha admired Steve as a leader, and a friend, but she had an entirely different kind of respect for him after hearing his plan.  
  
Steve may not be a perfect Catholic, but he attended confession four times a year and morning mass twice a month.  Religion wasn't a common topic for their team, they worked with a Norse God for fuck's sake, but faith was a variable that had to be factored into an apocalypse.  The faithless rioted and left chaos in their path, but believers at least prayed for relief and accepted it easier when it came.  
  
She wouldn't have considered a funeral service in the disposal of millions of the dead but Steve always tried to factor humanity into his strategy.  
  
"We're ready, Cap," Agent Hill said, holding open the tent flap for him.  
  
Steve visibly steadied himself and stepped into the tent.  He rarely wore his uniform anymore, it didn't help fighting a disease, but he looked healthy and strong even in jeans and a collared shirt.  
  
It was standing room only and suddenly eerie as the space went silent as Cap moved to the small podium.  
  
"Thanks for coming.  Um.  I'm not sure what you were told when we invited you but I'm here to answer any questions that I can."  
  
"Sum it up before you ask for questions," Natasha nudged him.  
  
Steve nodded.  "Okay, yeah.  I'm actually not the best speaker without an approved script," he smiled and a few of the holy men chuckled.  
  
"We have a major problem with the sheer number of the dead, we all know it.  We finally have a cure for the Flu but more and different diseases will spread if we don't take care of the bodies," Steve said soberly.  "Cremation is the best solution."  A few of the rabbis and other religious men began to mutter amongst themselves but Steve continued.  "We know that not all of your faiths allow for cremation but honestly, there isn't enough dirt on earth to bury all the dead.  We have to find a solution and we need your help to bring peace to as many of the people we've lost while protecting and bringing closure to the living."  
  
The tent filled with murmurs then Natasha nudged Steve again.  If anyone could make this work, it would be Steve.  
  
"I hope that with the current crisis, we can put old differences aside for the greater good.  We'd like to work with you to find a consensus on services.  A schedule, along with the list of bodies we're laying to rest, and a short service for as many as we need.  We won't be able to list all their names at the pyres and there are a lot of unidentified bodies, and the list won't have their religions because our record-keepers can only stretch so far.  We've also requested seeds and fresh earth from greenhouses and farms and when the task is done, flowers and trees will be planted.  All of this is volunteer based and it'll be a work in progress.  We'll need to organize recording sessions so we can stream the services to outlying areas that might not have surviving officiators," Steve said.  "We want to respect the dead, all of them, and lay them to rest."  
  
Hands went up around the room and Steve glanced at Natasha.  She nodded for him to continue and he turned back to the bullet points on his card.  "We're open to suggestions, but we need this organized as soon as possible.  We're still sorting out the production and distribution of the vaccine but we would like to include emergency relief shipments in the same visits to the assigned areas."  
  
More hands went up.  
  
"Maybe we didn't think far enough ahead, this is going to take a while," Natasha said under her breath.  
  
Agent Hill stepped forward and relieved Steve from the mike.  "Volunteers are going to come around with initial outlines and an explanation of timelines and recording arrangements.  Captain Rogers will be making his way around shortly to discuss travel requests and answer any questions but we are on a strict timeline."  
  
"You ready for this?" Natasha asked, placing a hand on his arm.  She didn't initiate contact often as a rule, but Steve was tactile and she'd grown used to his gentle touch, a silent check in and reassurance that words couldn't convey.  He'd been untouched for 70 odd years in ice so she made a point to support her Captain when she had the chance.  
  
He made the sign of the cross and linked arms with her.  "Don't let the Sisters get me alone."  
  
"I'll run defense on the nuns, got it," she said.

* * *

  
  
"Where have you been?" Pepper asked, sitting up in the dim lamplight.  Steve wondered if he'd woken her or if she'd been waiting up.  
  
"Finalizing things.  I'm sorry it's so late," Steve said. "It was supposed to be short and sweet. Natasha says I'm too nice but everyone had questions."  He sat down on the bed and leaned in for a kiss.  He missed her, and Tony.  He thought he would have more time for them today.  There would never be enough time.  "I need to shower."  
  
"Later?  Come to bed," she said. "We missed you."  
  
"Me, too.  Did you make nice with the Asgardians?" Steve asked, pliable as she unbuttoned his shirt.  She had the softest hands.  Much softer than Peggy's, no trigger callouses or split knuckles; Pepper was always delicate with her touches, always careful of the edges instead of seeking them out.  
  
"We had an interesting conversation with Lady Sif," Pepper said, smiling when he blushed.  He hadn't taken the time to meet Sif properly yet but he hadn't considered Pepper speaking with her first.  
  
"I haven't had time to talk with her much.  She's coming with me to Maryland tomorrow for the first of the...services," Steve said after a beat.  He wasn't holding his breath.  
  
"Wait - is that where you've been?" She paused.  
  
Steve leaned his head on her shoulder.  He was so tired.  Sometimes he'd rather take a punch to the face than have another conversation.  He wasn't a good 'talker'.  "We decided I should be the one to do it because I have the best reputation.  Natasha was with me, she was a big help today with the translations.  That's why Sif's coming with me with her Allspeak so Natasha can take a turn with another of the travel teams."  
  
"It's a good idea.  She's on Earth to watch you," Tony spoke without opening his eyes.  He was glad Tony was awake.  He loved Pepper and he should be comfortable talking to her alone; but he was more comfortable doing it when Tony was around.  He had to find a balance soon but things inside and outside of their relationship weren't settled enough for him to look for it yet.  
  
Steve snorted when he processed Tony's comment.  "Clint explained that I have to suck it up and accept the chaperones.  And a razor."  He'd slept through the itchy phase and he kind of liked his beard.  
  
"I'll have to thank him for that," Pepper smiled.  "Are we invited on the away trip?"  
  
Steve hummed under his breath.  He should have expected it but he was distracted tonight.  He decided to be honest for his own conscience's sake.  "It would be nice to have at least one of you there.  But we need you here more, guarding home base.  I asked if I could bring backup and they said Sif was easier to spare."  
  
"You asked if one of us could come with you?  They can't stop us if you want us there," Pepper said, her eyes flashing darkly.  
  
"I know, but they're right.  Tony needs to keep working on the power grids now that he's mapped us out the plan for the...disposals and you've done wonders for getting the communications up and transmitting the relief plans across the country.  Now we need to get the word out overseas."  
  
"Let's not talk about work right now," Pepper said with a soft huff of breath.  "I've really missed having both my boys beside me."  
  
Steve stood up long enough to finish undressing and curled up behind Pepper on the bed, wrapping his arms around her from behind and lacing his fingers with Tony as he slid over to kiss them both.  "I'm really glad I have this.  Sometimes I miss you guys when we're in the same room."  
  
"Then stop taking missions that mean you have to be away from us," Pepper said.  He could feel her staccato heartbeat against his chest.  
  
Steve met Tony's eyes over her shoulder and Tony squeezed his hands, kissing his knuckles one by one without looking away.  "We understand."  But Pepper's body went stiff and he knew she didn't.  He kissed her neck and she finally settled under his arms.  
  
"I'm not used to battles that last this long.  I can barely stand it when Tony goes flying off to fight supervillains and almost dying and that only lasts a few days - I would have never survived as Steve's war bride, either.  Sometimes I just...need you both _here_."  
  
Steve knew the value of making each moment count but there was so much at stake other than his own happiness.  He couldn't promise to stay home with them when the entire world's survival was at stake.  There wasn't enough time for him to promise himself.  
  
"This isn't your battle unless you make it yours," Pepper murmured.  
  
Tony frowned and strummed his fingers through Pepper's hair.  "Let's just get some sleep.  We've got a long day tomorrow and we can talk about this in the morning when we're in a calmer place."  
  
"You said we needed to talk and now you don't want to talk.  Hypocrite," Pepper said sharply.  
  
Steve gave Tony a questioning look and he shook his head, stroking her hair again.  
  
He wasn't sure if the balance between them would work in the long run.  Pepper would always trust Tony first and Steve would always trust Tony before her.  Neither of them would trust him the same way they trusted each other.  It made his head spin and his heart hurt.  
  
It could be right.  If he wanted it bad enough, they could make it right.  
  
Most of the time it felt right.  
  
Tony wasn't Bucky and Pepper wasn't Peggy.  But he could love them all.

* * *

  
  
Sif scanned the ragged man and could tell immediately that he was not to be trusted.  He hid his face in the shadows of a hat and wore long sleeves despite the heat.  "The volunteer line starts across the way," she said, motioning to the clusters of people taking shovels and masks several hundred yards away.  
  
"I'd like to talk to Steve Rogers, I heard he would be here," the man said in a gruff whisper.  Her hand was already on her dagger.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked.  "If you wish to speak to my companion, you should have proper identification."  
  
She caught his dark eyes under his hat and she was hit with a chill reminiscent of Loki's gaze.  She did not want to cause a scene in a place they were trying to make holy but this man did not belong.  
  
"I don't see you wearing a nametag," the man said with a lazy grin.  
  
Silver flashed in his sleeve and that was all the permission she needed.  She reached out and grabbed his arm, swinging a punch toward his face before ducking and putting the force of her thrust into his stomach as she yanked him forward and over her shoulder.  
  
"Sif - "  
  
She slammed the man on the ground and pounced on top of him, her dagger against his throat before she looked up at Natasha.  "He asked for the Captain by name but would not give his own.  He has a weapon."  
  
She was pleased that the Lady Widow held her weapons at the ready in both hands but she couldn't interpret the flash of emotion on her face.  The man wasn't a worthy adversary.  
  
"He is a weapon," Natasha said.  
  
"Thor said I was not allowed to kill anyone without permission, shall I phone him?" Sif asked, studying the man under her knife.  He had impressive strength for a Midgardian but he didn't show fear and he didn't try to dislodge her from his chest.  
  
"Natalia.  I am not the man you knew.  The Winter Soldier is dead," the man said.  She pressed her knife a tick harder until there was a drip of blood.  He met her eyes and swallowed defiantly until there was a line of red.  
  
"What are your orders?" Natasha asked the man, her guns steady.  Sif did not know the woman well but she respected her as a fighter but she didn't trust her despite Thor's blind loyalty.  
  
Sif saw Steve step out of the tent with his shield at the ready.  She thought he deserved a better weapon but she had heard many tales of his skill with the formidable disc.  She wanted to see it for herself, but not here.  Not today.  
  
"I have no orders," the man said, locked on the Widow.  "I'm not The Winter Soldier anymore."  
  
"Natasha," Steve said quietly, catching the man's attention.  He went completely still beneath her, his eyes locked on Steve.  "Speak English."  
  
"He's an assassin.  I trained with him in the Red Room.  I don't know why he's here," Natasha said.  Sif had not realized they were speaking a different language but Steve's face shifted as she spoke.  
  
Sif waited for Steve to give her permission to eliminate the threat but he walked over with The Widow and looked down at her capture.  
  
"Heya, Steve," the man said.  
  
Steve sucked in a breath and she tensed as the color drained from his face.  
  
"Steve?" Natasha said.  She put a hand on his shoulder and Sif narrowed her eyes at the man.  
  
"Bucky?" Steve whispered brokenly.  
  
"Yeah.  And I've got a story you should probably hear."  
  
"Who's Bucky?" Natasha asked sharply.  
  
"I believe he was a brethren at arms with the Captain in his first life.  I thought humans had shorter life spans, unless Thor was lazy with the retelling," Sif considered, remembering Thor's tales of his Midgardian friends' adventures.  She studied the man but did not remove the pressure at his throat.  "Were you frozen in the wilderness as well?"  
  
"Not in the wilderness, and not the whole time...  Can you get off me?  I don't like hitting girls now that I'm not a brainwashed assassin, but you're heavy."  
  
"You call me a 'girl' and insult my weight in the same breath - you are not worthy to continue life," Sif said.  She didn't need permission, she would apologize later.  
  
"Wait - let's talk about this - " Steve said, stilling her anger.  
  
She lowered her knife with a sigh.  Later.  "What will you have me do with the prisoner?"  
  
Natasha walked forward and slashed the sleeves off his shirt revealing a metal arm, shimmering with slanted scales.  She reached down and pressed her fingers into invisible slots and Sif hoped it wasn't going to bleed poison like the serpents of Asgard.  
  
"There's another latch in the elbow," Bucky said, resigned.  Sif heard a click and Natasha pulled the arm off his body.  
  
"What kind of magic is this?" Sif gasped when she saw that it was completely detached and the shoulder was smooth and unscarred on the stump.  
  
"That's a really good question," Steve said but his body language said he was unsure of what he was seeing.  "Let's take him to one of the vans so I can talk to him."  
  
"No," Natasha said sharply.  "You have work to do here.  I'll take him.  Sif, you stay with Steve, don't let him out of your sight."  
  
"You're the one that put me on outer guard duty," Sif frowned at her.  Natasha couldn't tell her what to do, she had to decide for herself.  
  
"It's Bucky - I need," Steve started.  
  
"You need to stay as far away from him as you can get until I know what's going on.  Sif, please take him inside.  He has work to do," Natasha said.  "This man is dangerous."  
  
Sif yanked the man to his feet and passed him off to Natasha who marched him quickly out of sight.  Steve still seemed unsteady and she would defer to the Widow for the moment.  They had a task, the kind that deserved no interruptions.  
  
"Captain, we're ready for you," one of the Priests said, stepping out of the tent.  
  
"I have to take care of something first," Steve said, staring after Natasha and the man with slightly glazed eyes.  
  
She had done this many times before when Thor got distracted by Loki's treachery.  She stepped in front of Steve and put both hands on his arms and squeezed until he met her eyes.  "You do not have time for this.  Emotions have no place on the battlefield and you have to focus on the task at hand before you deal with your own heart.  You're the Captain for a reason."  
  
He shook his head slightly but his eyes cleared.  "He's, he was my best friend.  He's supposed to be dead."  
  
"It that's true, he'll still be here when you are finished.  Come, I will glower at anyone who tries to distract you from your task and this will be done soon," she said, turning him toward the tent.

* * *

  
  
The sky was dark with the smoke of the Pyres, the scent of burning flesh thick in the air.  
  
Tony didn't know why he was outside when the Tower had working air filtration to cool and cycle fresh air but he felt like he was choking inside the buzzing lower workshop.  
  
Pepper was working from their bedroom today with JARVIS lighting up holograms and screens on most of the flat surfaces.  She was pouting but Tony was relieved she felt safe enough to pout.  The world was a mess but Pepper was safe enough to pout over her boyfriends.  Alive.  
  
They were safe from the cloud of death that was suffocating the rest of the world and he couldn't judge her for wanting time to cuddle.  Tony didn't mind a good cuddle now and again, but he had things to do that outweighed personal indulgences.  
  
He couldn't curl up with Pepper when Steve was off somewhere probably starting a riot; trying to bring the world together.  Steve had faith, even if he didn't speak about it in polite, or private, company.  But to Tony, the idea of an all-inclusive funeral service sounded like a brawl waiting to happen.  
  
Tony didn't believe in God.  He'd seen enough of hell in his life that he didn't fear it afterward.  He knew his sins and no amount of prayer could earn forgiveness he didn't deserve.  He paid his penance but not to a higher power, he worked for the people he'd let die.  
  
No matter the reason, he was still alive, still able to help and it was his job.  Not the one he got paid for, but the one he was meant for.  
  
His phone buzzed and he frowned.  He'd told everyone where he was going and he couldn't have been gone that long.  
  
"Sir, I have a call from Lady Sif, she is having trouble with her phone but I have managed to keep her on the line," JARVIS spoke.  
  
"Put her through," Tony said, standing up.  He made sure his bracelets were secure in case he needed to fly out.  "Sif?"  
  
"I do not like these Midgardian toys," she replied.  "I felt I should inform you that Steven has an unexpected visitor.  The Lady Widow is speaking with him now, I believe she is bringing him to the city in one of the flying machines.  Steven is quite upset but he is required here and The Widow insists the man is dangerous.  He believes the man is a lost friend, but Widow believes he is an assassin."  
  
"What kind of lost friend?" Tony asked, holding his breath.  All of Steve's friends were here.  Were the super villains finally taking their chance while the world was still choking?  
  
"Thor has told us tales of the Bucky Barnes of the valiant Commandos of old," Sif replied.  
  
"Bucky Barnes?  He died in the 40's..."  
  
"Yes.  The Widow called him The Winter Soldier, she has a history with him under that name.  I do not know her well, but she seemed very surprised.  I have convinced Steven to continue with his task here, he is a calming presence in the intense grief of this gathering but he is desperate for information that I cannot give him.  I have threatened some of his minions and secured a flying machine to return us to you as soon as his duty is done and he will require support from his lovers.  He will not take his meals even when the Sisters of the scary rulers take them to her."  
  
"Nuns?" Tony asked, his mind already processing what he needed to research.  Steve was weird about nuns.  
  
"I suppose.  Steven is in fear of their sticks of discipline but he insists they are well-meaning.  I am suspicious but I have seen no weapons under their robes.  If you can find any information to soothe his worries, it would be comforting to him to have knowledge for when we return."  
  
"I'm coming out there," Tony said.  
  
"That is not necessary.  The smoke from the pyres is making it difficult for the flying machines and he would not want his lovers in danger when he has such weight on his soul already.  I am told this speaking device can receive messages, if you find any information, you could send it to me to pass on to Steven.  He will not state it openly, but I believe he thinks The Widow will withhold details from him."  
  
"Fuck.  I'll send you a rundown of what I can find.  Are you sure I shouldn't come?"  Sif didn't know Steve well but Tony raised her a notch on his 'trust ranking' for calling him at all.  
  
"He is strong, he will not break in front of his public.  I will try to contact you later."  
  
Tony shuddered.  Out of everything that Steve had gone through, this might be the final straw that broke his back.

* * *

  
  
The Winter Soldier, or 'Bucky' as he continued to refer to himself, was as secure as she could manage in a pinch.  Shackled at the feet with his one arm cuffed behind him to the railing of the basement.  
  
There was definitely something different about him from her distant but stark memories, but he was the Red Room's prize assassin and could sink into character on command.  
  
His eyes were bright and curious, not methodical and plotting.  He was relaxed in his skin, not tense behind a practiced mask.  
  
It was a good con.  
  
"We don't have to go through the whole fingernail pulling shit, Natalia, I'll tell you whatever you want if you'll let me talk to Steve."  
  
She pulled up a chair and sat down across from him.  She didn't speak yet, she wanted him to play his hand.  
  
"Got the recorders going?" he said in a Brooklyn accent that she recognized from Steve's nightmares when she tried to train him out of talking in his sleep.  
  
"Alright," Bucky said, shifting into a better position.  "So a few months ago, I wake up in this box.  Cryo chamber.  Not that I knew what it was at the time, I was pretty fucking confused.  Didn't know my name, where I was, nothing.  There were a lot of dead scientists lying around."  
  
"Did you kill them?" Natasha asked.  Bucky shrugged to distract her from the flash of emotion in his face but she was smarter than that.  So was he.  This wasn't right.  
  
"They had the sickness like everyone else.  It took me a while to figure out the computers but I had a lot of shit hiding in my brain, you know?  I found all these tapes of people shooting me full of drugs and hooking me up to machines.  There's a big goddamn microchip in my head," Bucky snorted, frowning with a flash of anger in his eyes.  Just a flash, not enough for her to flip the safety off the pistol in her hand.  
  
"I couldn't make heads or tails of it so I did the first thing I could think of and stuck my arm into a light socket.  Or transformer, it doesn't matter.  Forced reboot," Bucky snorted.  "Kind of wiped the hard drive, though.  I crawled back into the lab and curled up like a newborn for a few days and let the films play out in my head."  
  
"It doesn't work like that," Natasha said.  It didn't.  It took years.  It wasn't that simple.  
  
"You and I aren't as alike as you think we are," Bucky replied darkly.  "What was your image trigger?"  
  
"Why would I tell you that?" Natasha asked.  
  
"Mine is round shield with a star in the middle," Bucky said.  He held her gaze.  "I may be more metal than man now, but I know without a doubt that I'm James Buchanan Barnes and Steve Rogers is my best fucking friend."

* * *

  
  
"I know all of this was necessary and I'm so glad we've finally got light at the end of the tunnel - but I think I'm more relieved about getting my house back," Pepper said.  The small apartment was like heaven after the bunk beds full of women who cried themselves to sleep every night.  She got to be big spoon and little spoon with the two men she loved more than anyone.  Albeit, Steve needed a bathroom for himself considering those shoulders.  
  
"I'm looking forward to going home myself," Maria said.  "This is far from over but I think we can definitely say that Dr. Banner saved the world."  
  
"And he didn't even have to lose his temper and break things to make it happen," Pepper smiled.  Bruce was an amazing man and he'd managed to hold the Hulk at bay for months now.  
  
She turned and looked through the window at the faraway glow of the still-burning pyres.  They would be burning for days, weeks, to come and she hoped it would be the rebirth the world needed to survive.  
  
"I am now the owner of four teenagers," Maria said casually.  
  
"Oh?  Orphans?" Pepper asked.  She couldn't picture Agent Hill managing children.  She pictured them saluting her after school.  
  
"Their parents were agents under my command," she replied.  "There are some deathbed requests even I can't deny."  
  
"That's very nice of you, Maria.  They must have trusted you a lot," Pepper said.  She couldn't imagine herself as a mother, but she would rank herself higher on a list than Maria.  
  
"Perhaps.  I'm just glad no one hit me up with toddlers.  Four square meals, condoms and birth control - I can handle that more than potty training and toys," Maria replied.  
  
"There are going to be a lot of lost children," Pepper said.  She wasn't sure Maria had her child-rearing priorities in order but it wasn't her place to correct anyone about parenting.  
  
"It's surprising how many people have stepped up.  We're letting the older ones choose on their own but we're working on teams to vet out families for the younger ones," Maria said.  "Speaking of..."  
  
"Please don't ask, we're simply too busy to even think about it," Pepper stopped her.  She had long taken the batteries out of her biological clock, before Tony had himself snipped; and not even the thought of having Captain America's baby would change her mind.  She loved Steve, but not that much.  
  
"I'm not going to ask about a child, your harem is too confusing for me to figure out, I doubt a child would get it," Maria muttered.  "But Steve's landlord from Brooklyn dropped off three kittens that were left to him in some old lady's last will and testament."  
  
"Oh no.  Not cats.  The Lady Sif can't be trusted."  She had an image of a calico collared cloak.  
  
Maria raised an eyebrow at her.  "Should I ask?"  
  
"No.  We'll have to get JARVIS to deal with them," Pepper said.  Cats, Jesus.  
  
"Bruce took a kid, but he's a special case.  He's watching the kittens in Fury's office."  
  
"Should I ask?" Pepper replied.  
  
"Best not to," Maria snorted.  "But the kid helped with speeding up production of the cure; he made it into an aerosol so it can be administered in a mist form.  Bruce wants to make sure he's taken care of but he's worried about how the team will react."  
  
"He told you that?"  
  
"No, he told Clint who told Phil who told me.  So you should get on that," Maria smirked.  She topped off her coffee and nodded her goodbye.  
  
She was glad to have something not depressing to think about and if Bruce wanted to adopt a kid genius, she wasn't about to stop him.  But cats, well, she had to do something about that.

* * *

  
  
"Are we assembling?  All our jets are offsite - " Clint said, wondering where the hell his vest was as he checked his neglected bow.  It had been hours since he checked her over.  He glanced up where Tony was directing his robots to arrange one of the viewing rooms in his workshop into an exam room complete with metal restraints.  "Tony?"  
  
Bruce stepped in with his new assistant on his heels.  "What's the emergency?"  
  
"Who's the kid?" Tony asked, finally turning around to face them.  
  
"Um.  He's with me," Bruce hesitated.  
  
"No judgment here, but is he at least legal?" Tony asked.  
  
"Really?  That's the first place you go?" the kid replied.  Clint hoped the kid would brighten up the place if he could hold his own with Tony.  
  
"He's with me, Tony, tell me what's going on before I break my Zen record here," Bruce said but Clint knew the signs by now and Bruce was completely relaxed.  
  
"JARVIS, pull it up," Tony said.  Two holograms lit up the center of the room.  "On the left, we have Bucky Barnes, Steve's BFF from the 40's.  And on the right - "  
  
"The Winter Soldier.  He's a legend," Clint said.  It had been a long time since they'd worked a mission but this wasn't one he expected.  
  
"They're the same goddamn man," Tony said, sinking into one of the chairs with a thunk.  
  
"Wait - I thought he died before Captain America went kamikaze in the ice," the kid said.  
  
"I want full diagnostics on him - DNA, x-rays, biometrics -  Natasha's interrogating him without sound equipment in the bunker so I'm pretty sure she's compromised," Tony said, glancing at Clint quickly.  
  
"Does Fury know?" Clint asked.  If Tony thought Natasha was compromised, there might be something to it.    
  
"He's handling Natasha and getting the guy up here so we can figure out what the hell is going on.  Clint, what do you know about him?" Tony asked.  
  
"He's an assassin, linked to at least three hundred murders in the past, hell, 70 years.  He worked with Natasha in the Red Room.  He's been linked to different organizations and he disappears for decades at a time.  She said they put him in cryo between missions," Clint rattled off.  Natasha didn't like to talk about it so he had stopped asking after the first few scars.  
  
"How was HYDRA with cloning?" the kid asked.  
  
Natasha walked into the room with a sour frown before anyone answered.  She dropped a dented metal arm on the table in front of Tony.  It was cool, but he'd seen cooler.  Tony's eyes were already ticking off the specs as he scanned it.  
  
"Nice to see you, too, Natasha," Clint said, catching her annoyed glare and relaxing slightly.  
  
"I needed to talk to him first.  I won't apologize.  Who's this?"  She locked on the kid.  
  
"Bruce's new pet, now talk," Tony ordered.  "This involves all of us."  
  
Clint pulled a stool over and put a hand on her shoulder to make her sit.  "He says he broke the programming.  He was accidentally defrosted when his handlers died from The Flu.  I almost believe him.  There's a chip in his head and he electrocuted himself to deactivate it but I'm not sure it works like that.  I don't know."  
  
"Because you're totally compromised," Tony muttered.  
  
Natasha didn't deny it and Clint squeezed her shoulder to steady her.  "What does he want?"  
  
She raised her eyes to Tony.  "He wants to talk to Steve, he says that's all."  
  
"That sounds pretty suspicious," Bruce said.  
  
"I don't know what to believe," Natasha said quietly.  "He's too dangerous to let anywhere near us.  Especially Cap."  
  
"Like we'll be able to manage that.  Steve's not going to be able to walk away from him, Winter Soldier or not," Tony sighed.  Steve was their North and Bucky was already fucking up everyone's compass.  
  
"It took me years to shake the programming completely.  I spent six weeks in a rubber room," Natasha whispered.  "We cannot trust him but..."  
  
"We'll get him back.  For you and Cap," Clint said.  
  
"I don't know Bucky and I don't want to get Yasha back," Natasha replied.  
  
"We'll get him back so the Red Room doesn't have another one of ours on its payroll," Clint said.  "Got it?"  
  
"Yeah, suck it up, Romanoff, and tell me more about the chip and how the hell he lived this long," Tony said, waving off Natasha's rare slip of emotion.    
  
"I didn't get much further before you sicced Fury on me.  Did Cap call you?" Natasha asked, composed but she leaned slightly against his hand.  This was going to eat her alive.  
  
"Sif.  She's like a voluptuous guard dog," Tony said, almost fond.  
  
"Shouldn't Pepper be here?" Bruce asked.  
  
"She's not an Avenger," Tony replied after a beat.  
  
"This is about Steve, too," Clint said, picking up the thread of Bruce's attempted warning.  
  
"If he's dangerous, I want her out of it until we know more.  I make Pepper related calls, always," Tony said.  
  
"You've always liked living on the edge.  Good luck with that," Clint said under his breath.  
  
"Who's taking over the interrogation?  Fury?" Bruce asked, redirecting the conversation back on track.  
  
"Coulson," Natasha replied.  "Other than Steve himself, Phil knows the most about the Captain's origin story."  
  
The door behind the glass opened and Phil stepped in with the alleged 'Bucky'.  
  
"Watch out!" the kid yelled suddenly.  
  
Clint raised his bow and spun around where the metal arm was rearing up on its fingertips.  The kid with Bruce raised his hand and a ribbon of white web encased the arm before it could finish lighting up with red.  
  
"Out of all the orphans, you have to grab Spiderman, good job, Bruce," Clint snorted.  He was curious about the superhero but not enough to blow the guy's cover when he'd managed to stay out of SHIELD custody without pursuit.  
  
"Motherfuck," Bruce said finally.  "I want a refund."  
  
"I should go," the kid said, taking a step back.  
  
"Nope, you took the deal and I'm totally not cleaning that up," Tony said, pointing at the cocoon restraining the struggling arm.

* * *

  
  
"What's this?" Phil asked, placing a rusted tin cigar box on the table between them.  
  
Bucky frowned.  
  
Steve stiffened and Thor put his hand on his shoulder, steadying him.  Tony wanted to go over but Pepper squeezed his hand and he stayed by her side, waiting for Steve to ask for them.  He hated this.  Pepper was mad at him for keeping secrets and Steve was falling apart and too shaken to turn to them for support.  
  
This was a clusterfuck all around.  
  
"Steve will know what it is.  Hell, he's probably got the matching one tucked away under a floorboard somewhere," Bucky said finally.  "It held up better than I thought it would."  
  
"God.  It's him," Steve whispered.  He shuddered and Tony's fingers twitched in Pepper's grasp.  
  
"Do you have such a box?" Thor asked before Pepper got her question out.  
  
"I...yes.  Yeah, I have my box.  We started at the orphanage," Steve started, his voice slow and shaky.  "Kids would steal anything and everything so we hid the most important things in our box.  First thing I did when SHIELD let me out on my own was go to Brooklyn and find it."  
  
"Where was it hidden for 70 years?" Tony asked.  Brooklyn had been rebuilt and worn down from top to bottom in 70 years.  
  
Bucky spoke behind the glass.  "I know Steve's got his box because it was gone when I got to the hiding spot.  I brought this so I could prove it to him.  Nobody else in the world, now or then, would know about these.  I can tell you what's in his box and he can tell you what's in mine.  You want proof, this is my proof."  
  
"I have to talk to him," Steve said.  He spun around to Tony and Pepper but he only met Tony's eyes.  "It's Bucky.  Tony, it's _Bucky_ , I have to."  
  
"He's dangerous, you can't trust him," Pepper said.  Steve turned his attention to her with a desperate expression.  
  
"I don't care, if he kills me at least I get to talk to him one last time, it'll make seventy years of ice worth it, it'll make all of this worth it," Steve said, running out of breath.  
  
"Go," Tony said before Pepper could break Steve's heart and tell him no.  Tony couldn't take this moment from him.  
  
Thor turned Steve toward the door, murmuring to him quietly until they disappeared into the hall.  
  
"Tony, what if - " Pepper started.  
  
"It won't.  Steve's fine.  He's fine," Tony said, moving closer to the window.  He was still holding her hand and she walked with him, pressing against his side.  
  
Bucky was out of his seat before the door was fully open and Steve's arms were around him.  
  
Steve didn't say anything and Tony couldn't make out Bucky's mumbled words into his chest but the tears streaming down Steve's face and Bucky's hand twisted in Steve's shirt said everything.  
  
Bucky pushed him away and put his one hand on his neck.  " _Steve_."  
  
Steve put his hands on Bucky's face and stared into his eyes.  "It's you."  
  
"They took everything from me, Steve... _everything_ , but they couldn't take you, they couldn't take _her_ , I never let them have that," Bucky said suddenly, pulling Steve into a desperate kiss.  
  
Steve made a sound deep in his throat, his lashes curled against his cheek as he leaned into the kiss for a long moment.  At least it felt long to Tony.  
  
Pepper gasped.  "Did you know?  Tony?"  
  
He shook his head.  "No."  God, he should have known - how could he not have known?  Steve told them he had other lovers, other relationships but he'd never asked for details, accepting that 'things like that weren't talked about in the 40's'.  
  
"I can't, Bucky...God..."  Steve pulled away but put one hand on his neck and ticked his eyes up and down his body to survey him.  "Peggy, she..."  
  
"Did you see her?"  
  
"I couldn't...I couldn't face her, Bucky, not without...it was my fault you died, it was my fault she lost us both," Steve shuddered.  
  
Phil cleared his throat, reminding everyone he was still present and snapping Tony out of the scene.  "Captain, we were in the middle of an interrogation."  
  
"I didn't know, Dad never said and Steve...I should have known," Tony said.  "He calls out for them in his sleep but I thought..."  
  
"We're not their replacements." Pepper whispered.  "He loves us."  
  
"He loves them, too."  Tony said.  
  
"Past tense," Pepper said.  "He loves us now."  
  
"You let me have this," Steve said, turning to Phil with a surprisingly fierce expression.  Steve adored Phil and would never disrespect him.  "This is my case, my responsibility."  
  
"You don't know what you're dealing with.  We don't know what we're dealing with, but we have more to go on than you," Phil replied.  
  
"I'm standing right here," Bucky said, glancing between them.  
  
"You're giving me this one.  Tony can work the tech, Natasha can work his brain, Bruce can work his DNA and Thor can watch him.  _You let me have this one_ , Phil."  
  
Thor stepped into the room.  "Mr. Barnes, if you will kindly follow me, I will take you to your lodgings."  
  
"Go," Steve hissed at Bucky.  Thor took hold of his elbow and marched him out of the room.  
  
"Captain - " Phil stood up.  
  
"What just happened?" Tony asked, turning to Pepper on their side of the glass.  
  
Pepper had a stricken expression on her face and Tony realized that the pandemic wasn't going to end his world - the end was Bucky Barnes.  
  
"This isn't about SHIELD, this is about me," Steve said to Phil.  "My best fucking friend is back from the dead, my boyfriend and girlfriend are about to flip out and I spent eight hours today burning human remains.  You will let me deal with this my way.  I can't think about anything else, I can't worry about anything else."  
  
Steve slammed his fist down on the metal table, denting the steel.  
  
Phil blinked at him.  "You have kittens."  
  
"What?" Steve asked after a beat.  
  
"An old lady gave Steve kittens.  I haven't had time to visit them," Pepper said quietly.  
  
"Bruce adopted Spiderman," Tony said.  
  
"How is that relevant?" Pepper asked after a beat.  Tony didn't know the answer to anything right now.  Nothing was relevant when Steve had lied to them.  
  
Bucky Barnes was Steve's true love, it was undeniable watching them together.  It was a tangible connection he could sense through the glass.  
  
Tony would still have Pepper, that would be enough, wouldn't it?  He could be happy with her.  He could move on without Steve.  
  
Fuck, he loved Steve, so much that he'd take whatever he could get - even it was only the scraps of a friendship.  
  
Steve stepped into their room.  "Tony."  
  
He was beside him in an instant, taking his wrists.  Tony searched his face but Steve's eyes were dull and lost.  "Hey."  
  
"I...God, I need you both so much right now," Steve whispered, brokenly, reaching out a hand for Pepper and pulling Tony close with the other.  Tony wrapped both arms around Steve's waist and felt Pepper complete the circle behind him.  
  
They were stronger together.  Tony was stronger with them, he needed them both.  
  
"God.  It's Bucky," Steve murmured.  Tony held on tighter.  He didn't know who was crying.

* * *

  
  
"You're not going anywhere until you stop shaking."  Pepper.  
  
There was something cool on the back of his neck and something warm in his hand.  Someone was rubbing circles on his back.  
  
"Never seen him have a panic attack quite like this one."  Tony's voice was muted like he was talking through water.  
  
"This is more than that.  What are we going to do?"  
  
"I'm fine," Steve said.  The hand stuttered on his back and resumed the circles.  
  
"Fine," Pepper repeated.  
  
"It would help if you could look us in the face when you say that," Tony said.  
  
Steve raised his head and met their eyes.  "It's Bucky."  
  
"Yeah," Tony said in an oddly calm voice, like he was talking Steve down from a tightrope.  "Want to talk about it without flipping out?"  
  
"Am I flipping out?"  He felt disconnected, like he was untethered in the ice again floating, or falling from the sky.  
  
"Completely," Tony nodded.  
  
"Tell us where to go from here, Steve.  What do you need?" Pepper whispered.  She was the one rubbing his back.  Tony had his hand wrapped over Steve's holding the steaming mug of coffee.  How long had he been out of it?  Was he still out of it?  
  
He had two people that loved him right here.  He was letting them down.  He wasn't weak, he had dealt with worse things and Bucky's presence should be the best thing to happen to him.  Ever.  
  
But it didn't compute.  Nothing made sense.  Where had he been?  How had he become a mindless assassin?  Why was he here now?  
  
"Steve, don't drift off again."  
  
"I have to explain about Bucky.  And Peggy," he added.  He had too many things in his head and he had to remember to breathe so he could get this out..  
  
"You don't have to," Pepper hesitated but he could see the hurt in her eyes.  
  
"We didn't talk about it – it was different back then – we never talked about it.  Ever."  He put his hand over his heart.  "It was the only thing that mattered, the only secret that we could never tell.  They would have kicked us out of the army, maybe killed us for it.  It would have been dangerous enough with just me and Bucky, but with Peggy, too, it would have ruined her – all of us."  
  
"Okay, Steve, we get that but why didn't you tell _**us**_?" Pepper asked.  
  
"I…we never talked about it," Steve said.  "I'm trying to leave that part of my life in the past…it hurts too much to think about it, it's not…I'm trying not to make it real, I don't think…it hurts so I tried not…"  
  
"Avoidance is usually my thing, Cap," Tony said, reaching up to strum a hand through his hair.  Steve leaned into the touch.  
  
"I didn't lie about them, I just can't talk about them.  You're not the same.  There's no comparison to them or to you.  I love you, both of you, all of you," Steve said.  
  
"We know that, but there's this huge part of you that you aren't sharing with us.  We could have helped you deal with it, we would have done everything differently," Pepper said.  
  
"I am dealing with it, I dealt with it," Steve said.  
  
"You're a shitty liar, Steve," Tony sighed.  
  
"I…fuck.  I miss them so much, I miss the way she smelled, stale cigarettes and cheap French perfume that me and Bucky would bribe the Commandos to bring for her from the whorehouse.  I miss the way Bucky would bite marks into my skin and she would kiss over them – I miss all of that, okay?  But it doesn't matter, it can't matter.  I have you, and all of this and I can't go back.  Everyone says that I can't go back so it doesn't matter," Steve blurted out.  "It doesn't have anything to do with what we have now."  
  
"It has everything to do with it," Pepper whispered.  "If you're still in love with them…"  
  
"They're dead.  It doesn't matter if I love them, I'll always love them, but they're dead.  I can't move on, I can't be here without them if I don't accept that they're gone," Steve whispered, his voice breaking.  
  
"But now he's back," Pepper said.  
  
"He'll never forgive me and he shouldn't.  I don't, I can't, and there's no way he can," Steve said.  "I don't know how to face him."  
  
"Hey," Tony said sharply.  "You just did, and we'll be right beside you, whatever you need.  He's the one that's been running around killing people for the enemy, are you judging him for that?  No, because that's not who you are.  And I doubt you'd have been with Bucky if he would hold your fucking grief against you."  
  
"I can't lose you," Steve said, meeting Tony's eyes.  It took him a moment too long to look at Pepper and he saw her eyes dim and her hand lifted from his back.  
  
"You're not.  I'm right here, we're right here," Tony whispered urgently, tugging him into a tight embrace.  Steve could feel the rabbit beat of his heart and held on.    
  
"I need to show you the box if you're going to be able to understand anything," Steve said.  
  
"Are you sure?" Tony asked.  Pepper was still sitting close but she had her hands on Tony's back with a broken expression on her face.  
  
Peggy and Bucky had been the best thing about his first life, but they were going to be the reason he lost the best thing about his second if he didn't start fixing this now.

* * *

  
  
Steve brought the box into the room and set it down in front of Pepper.  "Open it."  
  
"Where did you even keep that?" Tony asked, giving him a relieved look as he walked in with two cups of coffee.  
  
Pepper took it in her hands carefully, running her fingers over the rusted latch.  
  
"It's somewhere safe," Steve said.  "Where nobody can find it if I don't want them to."  
  
"There are these things called safety deposit boxes, you know," Tony said, but it was for show.  His eyes were locked on her hands as she lifted the lid.  
  
Steve worked hard to drag himself out of the past but he understood the importance of mementos when he suddenly had none.  He'd already had 70 years to forget and he didn't want to risk losing the memories he'd claimed if he slept 70 more.  
  
Tony sat down beside Pepper on the couch and pulled out the faded and worn plastic bag filled with ruined baseball cards.  His mother used to get for him at the dimestore when he had no friends to trade with.  They were too poor for him to start a collection, but she did what she could to make him happy.  
  
"These could have been worth something if they weren't ruined," Tony said quietly.  
  
He took a deep breath, but it wasn't deep enough.  He had to open himself up, completely, if he wanted to keep what they had together.  "My mom died when I was 10 and the first night at the orphanage, the kids raided my stuff.  I didn't have much, but fresh blood and all that.  That's where I met Bucky, and I told him about it one night and he must've punched six kids in the jaw that day getting those few back to me."  
  
Pepper lifted the battered rosary and held it in her palm.  
  
"That was my mother's," Steve said.  She was so sick in the days before she finally passed that she couldn't hold the beads so he held her hand and recited the prayers for her, wishing desperately that her faith would keep her alive when he couldn't.  
  
Pepper placed it carefully on the table and pulled out the first of the drawings.  Tony was going through ticket stubs and baseball clippings but he didn't look up.  He put the flier from the Expo off to the side.  
  
Steve just had to get through this.  
  
"These look recent," Pepper said.  
  
"I don't have anything from the war.  I never made it back to Brooklyn until I was defrosted," Steve replied.  "So I drew the things I would have kept if things had been different."  
  
A sketch of the bus ticket to boot camp.  The toothbrush he used to clean the latrines.  The pin of a dummy grenade.  The needle that shot him full of the serum.  A tombstone.  A woman's garter.  A tube of lipstick, 'red wine red' on the sticker.  He had to look away before she got into the war sketches.  
  
"What's this?" Tony interrupted his thoughts.  He held up a half chewed pencil.  
  
Steve smiled.  "You flicked that at me in one of Fury's meetings when you still hated my guts."  
  
"He never hated your guts," Pepper said.  She held up a picture of an opal ring and he had to turn his head.  "And this?"  
  
"It's the ring Peggy was wearing when she punched me in the face when I told her that we - no, I , lost Bucky.  He'd bought it for her, said it was from both of us, but I was locked up with the General and Howard and he picked it out on his own.  My face took three days to heal by the time she was done and I deserved every hit," Steve whispered.  
  
"She couldn't have blamed you," Pepper said.  
  
Steve met her eyes.  "You'd blame me if something happened to Tony.  Besides, she knew...she knew that I was dead before I hit the ice myself, she knew I was dead when he hit the ice first."  
  
"Steve..."  
  
"No, I had him, he was right there.  I dropped him, I lost him," Steve said, trying and failing to take a breath.  "I did that.  There's no getting over it, no moving on, I just have to live with it.  God, even more now that I know he was brainwashed and experimented on and tortured - I have to remember that I did that to him."  
  
"Shut up," Tony said sharply.  "That's not true - you did everything you could - "  
  
"That's not enough in our line of work," Steve replied.  He clenched his fist but he could still feel the freezing air on his reaching hand.  "Go to something else."  
  
Pepper returned to the box but Tony stared at him, shaking his head slightly and opening his mouth to speak.  Pepper took out a pair of chopsticks and Tony thankfully dropped whatever he was going to say.  
  
"I thought you broke these at the restaurant," Pepper said.  
  
It was their first official discussion of their arrangement, disguised as a modern cuisine lesson with sushi.  
  
"I took those on my way out.  I meant to practice but I will always prefer a fork."  He sighed.  "The point is - the reason I'm showing you this is because...that's Steve Rogers in a box.  And you're part of that.  I meant what I said, I died when Bucky fell - but here, now, I'm living because of you.  Both of you."  
  
Pepper put down the chopsticks and folded her hands.  She didn't look at him.  "Not both of us.  You don't love me like you loved her, there are - there's nothing of me in there, Steve."  
  
He opened his mouth to protest but the look on Tony's face was enough to stop his heart.  
  
"Pepper," Tony whispered, as if she'd stabbed him.  
  
"And I can't even be angry with you because I feel the same way," she said.  
  
It hurt, but not as much as it should.  God, he'd done this wrong, all of it.  When he opened his eyes, Pepper was gone.  
  
"Shit," Tony hissed out.  
  
"I'm sorry," Steve said.  He hurt her, he didn't mean to but she was hurt and it was his fault.  He took a deep breath and tried to shake out of his meltdown.  "Go with her.  _Please_.  I can't worry about her, too, and...I have to deal with Bucky."  
  
Bucky, _God_.  
  
"I'll get her and we'll be right behind you.  You aren't doing this alone," Tony said.  
  
He nodded but he knew that dealing with Bucky was something he could only do alone.  

* * *

  
  
"I shouldn't have come," Bucky said, catching Sif's attention.  
  
"What were you expecting to find when you reunited with Steven?" she asked.  She did not know the details, only that Thor was furious and Bucky was more important to Steven than anyone knew.  He was to be protected, not harmed.  
  
"I...I don't know," the man replied, deflating slightly.  "But the one sure thing I knew when I came out of it was that if he was the real Steve Rogers, I had to be here."  
  
"What is this 'it' you speak of, were you possessed by an evil spirit?  Cursed?" Sif waved her hand vaguely.  "Midgardian ways are foreign to me, how are you alive without your memory?  Why would you let Steven freeze in the deep when you still draw breath?"  
  
Bucky recoiled.  "I - fuck, lady..."  
  
Sif skimmed him with her eyes.  "You were not in control of yourself?"  
  
He stared past her.  "I don't think I was in myself at all.  They made me into a machine, a monster.  I was who they told me to be.  I was nothing without a program."  
  
"You seem fleshy enough to be called a man, and if what you say is true - what orders do you follow now?" Sif asked.  
  
He hesitated.  "I'm here, just me."  He held out his hand.  "I would have never stopped looking for him, I would have been on that goddamn plane beside him but I would never have left Steve if I hadn't been captured and...turned into this.  But this is me, I'm here and he's alive and I just want..."  
  
She recognized the desperation and frustration in his face.  "You love him."  
  
Bucky shuddered.  "He was frozen for 70 years and I was asleep for longer.  It...it hasn't been long enough for me to think about anything else.  God, the war's been over forever, and he's alive, I have to get to him.  I had to see him and he isn't even here - he won't even talk to me - "  
  
"You are foolish if you believe he is willingly avoiding you," Sif said.  "You said yourself that you were an assassin and Steven is a treasured friend to many and they will protect him even when he will not protect himself."  
  
Bucky blinked at her.  "Who the hell are you guys anyway?  Are you Vikings like Thor?"  
  
"What do you know of Thor?" Sif asked.  
  
"The programming always had enough current events loaded in to catch me up to whatever year they were defrosting me into," he said.  "I caught myself up this time with the internet, saw the Battle of New York with the Avengers, that's when I saw Steve, on a fucking computer screen."  
  
Sif didn't know much about the Internet but Thor said it was a glorious place.  Perhaps she would learn about these Vikings that people kept speaking of in such a place.  
  
"I don't want to hurt him.  I just want..."  
  
Steven stepped into the room in fresh clothes with damp hair.  She could see the tremor in his stance and knew that the oncoming battle for the Captain's heart would have no true victor.  "Bucky."  
  
Bucky stood up and turned to him immediately.  "You have time for me now, pal?" The smirk was out of place on his face with the mix of emotions behind his eyes.  
  
Steve took careful steps to meet him halfway.  "There's never enough time for you, Buck."  
  
Sif cleared her throat.  She did not desire to play witness to their confessions, it was not her place.  "You may use my quarters to speak privately, just do not let the creatures escape, they are hard to catch."  
  
"Creatures?" Steve asked, confused.  Much like Thor, he was lucky his beauty was greater than his wit.  
  
"Cats.  Very mean and very soft.  I think they will make worthy gifts to take back to Asgard," Sif said.  
  
"Jesus," Steve muttered and Bucky gave him a stricken look.  
  
"You talk like that now?"  
  
"Come on, before the cavalry gets here," Steve said, giving Sif a grateful nod and leading Bucky into the back bedroom.  There was a momentary burst of meowing before the room went silent again.  
  
She hoped the cats would get bigger soon so she could use her Allspeak to find out if they were open to visiting Asgard with her.  Frigga would love a new cloak from Midgard.

* * *

  
  
Steve locked the door behind them, taking only a moment to look at the fluffy calico kittens piled contentedly on Sif's shredded bed before turning to Bucky.  He couldn't think about Tony or Pepper or anyfuckingthing with Bucky, breathing and alive in front of him.  
  
He reached over and started popping the buttons on his shirt.  He had to see, he had to see the damage he'd caused.  
  
"Whoa – " Bucky hesitated but Steve pushed his shirt open so he could see his chest.  The right side fell off without the metal arm to fill the sleeve.  There were too many scars to map at first glance and he choked down a rush of bile.  
  
"What did they do to you?  God, Bucky, what – your arm – you – "  
  
"Hey, it's not your fault – "  
  
"You never lied to me Bucky, don't start now – "  
  
"It's not a lie, you weren't even around – "  
  
"I know, God, I wasn't there – "  
  
One of the cats yowled and they both stopped talking and stared at each other.  
  
"I had to find you.  As soon as I realized who I was, what was real, I had to find you," Bucky said.  
  
"If I had known you survived – I would have let the world burn to get you back," Steve said.  He would have searched forever if there had been any chance.  
  
Bucky's eyes flicked over him and he panted slightly.  "There's someone else, isn't there?  You found someone else…I'm too late."  
  
Steve wanted to tell him he was wrong, he wanted to grab him and never let go, he wanted to hold him tight and kiss every scar – but he would lose Tony and Pepper and everything he'd worked for if he did this.  
  
But what else could he do?  Bucky was everything to him.  
  
"I…I thought you were dead.  I thought…you were gone forever – it's been seventy years and I woke up and everyone was dead, but you were dead before that, Bucky.  You were always by my side, always, and I was here and there was nobody, I had…please don't hate me for loving someone else," Steve said, choking out the words.  "I…I had to move on, please, Bucky…"  
  
Bucky's eyes were wide when he managed to look up.  "Steve, no," he whispered.  "I don't hate you, I…"  
  
"You should, this, all of it, it's my fault," Steve said, shaking off his hand and turning away.  
  
"Okay, let's – Goddamn, Steve," Bucky hissed.  "You didn't do anything wrong, God knows I fucked a lot of people when I was working for the Reds, killed them, too – shit, if the world wasn't ending, you'd probably be assigned to take me down.  It's been…"  
  
"Where were you, Bucky?  I read Natasha's report, but – they froze you?" Steve had to get himself together but fuck this was hard.  He sat down on the bed and a pile of kittens, tumbled into his lap.  
  
Bucky sat down beside him and Steve slid an arm around him and leaned his head on his shoulder.  Bucky didn't have an arm to put around him but leaned his head against Steve's.  "Yeah.  I brought some stuff with me, I guess Agent Coulson has it since he had my box.  I knew if anyone could help me, it would be you.  I woke up in a cryo chamber.  I felt like I was roasting alive because the thing had fully defrosted and my body heat and the locked down room doubled the temp inside.  I had to use my mech arm to bust out of it."  
  
"SHIELD didn't give your arm back yet?"  
  
"She'll come back to me," Bucky said.  "I need to be with you so I'm not putting up any kind of fight to get kicked out."  
  
"What does that mean?" Steve asked.  He stroked the fattest kitten under its chin.  He wondered if he needed to feed them soon.  He wondered what happened to Mrs. Jenkins and her cat, the kittens' mother.  
  
Bucky didn't move but he whistled softly.  "I'm dangerous, Steve.  I tried to fix it, but I was never as smart as you so I don't really know what's happening in my head."  
  
There was a yell and a skittering sound from the outer room.  Bucky got up and opened the door and Steve gasped when the metal arm darted into the room running on its fingers.  
  
"Come on," Bucky said, reaching down and grabbing the arm.  Steve had never seen anything like it and when Bucky raised it to his shoulder, it melded with his flesh like magic, along with a few audible clicks..  He could hear a soft hum, like purring when Bucky sat back down.  
  
"How – "  
  
"Don't know.  There's so much tech in my head that something clicked on, I think I first noticed it in the 70's.  I didn't tell my handlers, it's…she's, sort of, the only thing that I had for myself," Bucky said, strumming his flesh fingers over his metal ones.  "I'm kind of crazy, Steve."  
  
"Is that new?" Steve asked, earning a smile.  
  
The door burst open and Sif and Clint stood armed and ready.  "Steve – are you all right?  The arm…" Clint narrowed his eyes at Bucky.  
  
"It's fine," Steve said.  Clint didn't lower his bow.  "Clint."  
  
"Sorry, Cap, can't.  You've got a blind spot for this guy and you aren't supposed to be alone with him.  We were briefed about the arm," Clint said, arrow trained on Bucky.  
  
"It's okay," Bucky said softly.  "Just don't break it, yeah?"  
  
"No," Steve said.  "Nobody touches the arm but Tony."  He wouldn't trust tech like this with anyone else.  "I got this, Clint."  
  
"Tony's not here but we should keep the arm away from him," Clint replied.  "Are you seriously holding a kitten right now?"  The kitten yawned in his general direction.  
  
Steve hoped Tony was talking to Pepper, but he also hoped they'd be here by now.   "Clint Barton, this is Bucky Barnes."  
  
Bucky studied Clint and then snapped his metal fingers.  "I remember now - you clipped me in the shoulder in Madrid, '98."  
  
Clint didn't waver.  "You broke my arm in three places."  
  
"And you still made the shot.  It pissed my handlers off that I didn't go back for you," Bucky said, a flash of emotion behind the dark lashes.  Steve's stomach twisted.  
  
"Why didn't you?" Clint asked.  
  
Bucky lowered his gaze.  "Wasn't programmed to kill indiscriminately that time.  I got passed around a lot, I think, after the Cold War.  I don't recognize the handlers when I roll the tape back up here," he said, motioning to his head in a swirling motion.  
  
Clint flicked his eyes to Steve and he nodded slightly.  Clint lowered his bow and relaxed a tick.  
  
Sif made an unhappy face, narrowing her eyes at the kittens that had all migrated to his lap at some point.  "They have claimed you as the head of their pride.  It would be dishonorable to take their pelts if they are under your protection."  
  
Bucky let out a harsh laugh that Steve only remembered from his dreams.  "Shit, Steve, I'm crazy but your friends are weird."  
  
"I'll take care of it," Clint said, carefully turning Sif toward the hallway.  "How 'bout you leave the door open a little?"  
  
"The cats will get out," Steve replied.  
  
"JARVIS?" Clint spoke to the ceiling.  A blue dot appeared on the far wall and all three cats snapped to attention and darted off the bed in pursuit.  Clint closed the door halfway with a lazy salute.  
  
Bucky cupped his jaw with cold metal fingers.  Not like Iron Man.  Not Tony.  Bucky.  He shivered.  God, what had he done to his best friend - the love of his life - one life, the life he'd abandoned when he lost him - he had just let him fall, he hadn't looked for him hard enough - long enough -  
  
"Steve.  It's okay.  It's...I'm here, okay?  I'm here and you're here and we'll figure it out the way we always do.  Okay?  Say okay, Steve," Bucky whispered.  
  
"It's not okay," Steve managed, putting his arms around him and pulling him close.  "Nothing's okay, Buck.  But..."  
  
"We'll figure it out, Steve."

* * *

  
  
Bruce put down the eyedropper with Bucky fucking Barnes' blood when he noticed Steve step into the lab.  "Hey."  
  
"Hey.  Can you check me?" Steve asked, his voice shaking.  Bruce didn't recognize the look in the man's eyes.  He reached out without thinking and took his wrist.  His pulse was rabbit-fast and he gently led him across the room to the same gurney he'd used a few days before.  
  
"Are you having symptoms?" Bruce asked, the words thick in his throat.  
  
"What?  No, I...am I losing my mind?  I mean, is there a test, like, inkblots or something?  Because I - I don't think I'm okay," Steve said in a rush.  
  
"Oh.  No, Steve, there's no test for that, just relax and I'll check you over," Bruce said in a calm voice.  The Hulk might love to frolic with Iron Man, but he respected Captain America before anyone else in battle.  Steve had talked the monster down plenty of times but Bruce never expected to have to pull Steve out of a fugue state.  
  
"You turn into the Hulk, Red Skull pulled his skin off - I feel like I'm splitting apart, is that possible?" Steve said, almost gasped.  Bruce didn't have to be a physicist to realize he was hyperventilating.  
  
"Hey," Bruce said sharply but it caught Steve's attention.  "You're having a panic attack, okay?  Take a breath and hold it, watch my count, Captain."  He held up his fingers and counted to five.  "Exhale."  
  
He used his free hand to switch on the small oxygen tank and hold up the mask so Steve could see it.  Steve reached out and placed it over his own mouth, but his breaths were still erratic and too shallow.  
  
He left him long enough to tap the metronome to start a steady beat and pull up a stool beside him.  "Better?"  
  
Steve shook his head no.  
  
"Close your eyes and listen to the ticking," Bruce said in as gentle a tone as he could manage.  He didn't like seeing Steve this vulnerable, through everything - even the ladder incident - he'd been stoic and strong.  But he was here, breaking and asking for help and Bruce owed him too much to watch him shatter.  
  
He managed to keep his hands steady as he pressed the stethoscope to Steve's chest.  "JARVIS.  Full scan on Captain Rogers, please."  
  
JARVIS spoke smoothly.  "He is still functioning within satisfactory health parameters, Dr. Banner.  I perform full scans on Sir, Ms. Potts and Captain Rogers at hourly intervals."  
  
Steve flipped him the finger.  Bruce let himself relax at the gesture, and the slower breaths.  
  
"He has not eaten in six hours and is mildly dehydrated but within parameters," JARVIS added.  "I also should remind Captain Rogers that my visual surveillance is functioning and his response has been recorded."  
  
"Shit, no hot water for you next shower," Bruce chuckled.  
  
"Sorry, JARVIS.  Is..." Steve started.  He lowered the mask but Bruce shook his head and he raised it back to his face.  
  
"Sir and Ms. Potts are in a conference with the African Media Coalition," the AI replied before Steve had to finish his question.  
  
Bruce didn't know why he hadn't thought of it as soon as Steve showed up.  He'd been so caught up in figuring out what the hell had been done to Bucky Barnes that he hadn't thought about Tony lying to Pepper about Barnes' return.  "Did Pepper flip out when she found out Tony didn't tell her?"  
  
Steve shuddered.  "No.  They both flipped out when they found out I didn't tell them."  
  
"Tell them what, Steve?" Bruce asked.  Steve wasn't a liar by nature but things were out of whack these days.  
  
"I…I was with Bucky and Peggy before…we were together and I didn't tell them and now Bucky's back and Pepper's mad and I can't…" Steve clenched his fists and sagged, utterly defeated.  
  
"Lie down, Cap.  I don't think this is a medical issue, but we're going to talk it out, okay?" Bruce didn't know much about poly relationships, and he'd assumed it was new to Steve, too.  But if Steve had managed to have a girlfriend and a boyfriend in the 40's, then he was obviously better at hiding the truth than he was at lying about it.  
  
"There's so much to do and I just…can't.  I can't think and I can't breathe…"  
  
"Because you're not letting yourself.  One thing at a time.  Triage, Steve, it's what you do every day, let's piece it out," Bruce said, laying a hand across his forehead when he finally stretched out on the gurney.  
  
"I know you're not a shrink and I know you're loyal to Tony but…" Steve panted.  
  
"Hey, I'm loyal to all my friends.  And I don't break confidences.  Seems like you need someone to talk to that's not directly involved," Bruce said.  Steve's breathing slowed again but his heart was still beating double time.  
  
"What am I supposed to do?  I love Tony.  And Pepper, but Bucky…it's Bucky.  My – shit, him and Peggy, they were my firsts – he's my best friend and he doesn't have anyone else, I have to..."  
  
"Slow," Bruce said, keeping his hand on Steve's forehead until he closed his eyes.  
  
"There's...I need help.  I need help and I don't know who to ask for it," Steve whispered.  
  
"Okay.  What kind of help, Cap?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Bucky's...he's messed up.  He said he has implants, in his brain and all over and I...I don't trust any scientists more than Tony, or you.  If Tony's not talking to me, then how can I find out what he's got inside him?  Natasha's got a history with him and the people that...made him...I think I can trust her to figure out what they did to him mentally, but I don't have any idea how to get him the help he needs without putting him, or the people trying to help him, in danger."  
  
That was more Bruce's speed, he could work with that.  "Okay.  We can solve that.  He can bunk with me, the apartment's Hulk-proof and JARVIS has more sensors there than any of the other floors.  Plus, we've got a new addition to the crew other than your alien fiancée and defrosted beffie."  
  
Steve cracked one eye open.  "Beffie?"  
  
"Best friend forever," Bruce said.  Steve's breathing evened out and Bruce considered it a win.  
  
"Who's the new addition?"  
  
"I took in one of the stray kids and he turned out to be, well, extra special," Bruce said.  "He can look over the tech and biology bits with us."  
  
"Do you trust him?  I mean, he's a stranger," Steve said.  The distraction was working for the moment, he just needed Steve to get control of himself so he could focus.  
  
"He's Spiderman.  Since SHIELD never figured out who he was, I'm pretty sure he can keep a secret.  He's a little worried we're going to run tests on him," Bruce said.  
  
Steve actually relaxed.  "Heck, he's amongst friends now."  
  
"So he and I will handle the scans and research until Tony gets himself together, I'm working on the DNA already so Peter's familiar and he caught the arm for us the first time," Bruce said.  
  
"The arm's strange.  It purrs," Steve said.  
  
"You'll have to tell Pete about it.  He thinks that because Bucky's got a form of the serum, his brain adjusted to the microchip in his head and rebuilt it organically when it was damaged.  His body thinks the arm is a part of him, and with the technology inside him, it found a way to make it work wirelessly.  He's been studying the hell out of JARVIS' initial scans," Bruce said.  
  
"God, thank you," Steve sighed.  "I need him to be okay."  
  
"We'll fix him, Steve," Bruce said, hoping he wasn't lying.  "What are you thinking about now?"  
  
"I have to choose Bucky, Bruce.  No matter how I feel about Tony and Pepper, I have to choose Bucky," Steve whispered.  
  
"Why?" Bruce asked.  He wasn't a shrink but he had been to enough of them in his life to be able to fumble through.  Plus, this would kill Tony.  
  
"He's alone.  Even with SHIELD's lies when I first woke up, there were living people for me to talk to.  He woke up trapped in a box and had to wade through dead bodies to even figure out who he was," Steve said.  "I can't let him be alone now, he doesn't deserve this, he shouldn't be alone just because..."  
  
"But you shouldn't be miserable just because he's back."  
  
"I still love him.  I always will," Steve said.  "I...can't believe he's alive and I'm fucking happy, I want to introduce him to everyone and tell him everything that's happened to me and I want...but I can't.  Because it's the end of the world and I'm breaking Tony's heart and I fucking love him, too."  
  
Bruce noticed that he left off Pepper's name but he didn't want to give the guy something else to worry about.  
  
"I know I can't have it all, but I want to keep Tony and Pepper and have Bucky, too.  It's not about sex, it's never been - and I'm the reason Bucky's the way he is - losing him is my biggest regret, the worst thing that's ever happened to me and the one thing that I'd give everything up to change.  And now he's back and I have that chance, I can't fix it, I can't change the past but I can save him this time," Steve said.  
  
"Have you told them that?" Bruce asked.  
  
"I tried, but Pepper...she doesn't understand.  Tony does, I hope, but she - it's my fault.  I didn't think before I spoke.  I - it's not like it was with Peggy.  I think her and Tony click, and me and Tony click, but she...she doesn't kiss me if Tony's not with us.  And I've never made love to her alone - before, we would be together however we could, I always knew Peggy and Bucky were safe and loved if they were together but I think..."  
  
"Steve," Bruce said softly so he didn't slip into another tangent.  
  
"Pepper loves Tony enough to let him have me," Steve admitted in a shamed voice.  "This isn't her fault, it's mine.  I love her, but not the same.  I couldn't tell Tony that, he would have never brought me in if he knew I couldn't love her the way she deserves.  He has to stay with her, no matter what, she's his first."  
  
"And Bucky's yours," Bruce said, snapping his fingers to draw Steve's attention.  "Hey.  No one's going to judge you for helping your friend."    
  
Peter cleared his voice from the doorway.  "Doc, the Agents are getting antsy, they're looking for Captain Rogers.  There's a thing going down in Manhattan."  
  
"What kind of thing?" Steve asked, sitting up immediately.  
  
"Riot,  they flipped over an ambulance," Peter said.  "Cops are asking for some backup."  
  
"Most of the agents are offsite at the Pyres and vaccination centers," Steve said, swinging his legs over.  He glanced at Bruce and then at Peter.  "Heard you were Spiderman."  
  
Peter frowned at Bruce.  
  
"Could use your eyes on this," Steve continued.  "Just your eyes.  You can get a better look from the rooftops than I can on the ground and Barton's with Bucky."  
  
"Really?  I mean...you don't even know me," Peter said.  
  
"Bruce says you're on the level and you've saved the city a few times before all this," Steve added.  
  
"Wow.  Of course, man.  Captain."  
  
"Cap's fine, don't call him Steve on the comm, it makes him grumpy," Bruce said, getting his spare communicator out of one of the drawers of his desk and tossing it to Peter.  
  
"Don't wear your suit, it's too flashy, Phil can find some regular armor in your size, I need to be the focal point out there.  These are people, not aliens or robots and we have enough dead already.  I don't want snipers on the roof if I have a good spotter up high," Steve said, putting an arm around Peter and leading him out of the lab.  
  
Bruce stared after them and wondered why Steve would take on yet another complication like Peter without a thought to the meltdown he'd been having moments before.  
  
He didn't have any advice to offer Steve, but he hoped he had at least helped him settle enough to go into a riot with a clear head.  He couldn't help him with his relationships but he could work on finding out what had been done to Barnes.  He turned back to find the eyedropper and get back to work.

* * *

  
  
Tony had finally gotten Pepper to sleep with the promise that he would have Steve with him when she woke up.  His stomach roiled when he saw how much time had passed while he was tearing himself apart for Pepper.  
  
"Flex it.  Amazing."  
  
He wasn't sure why Steve was in his workshop and he didn't recognize the voice giving indecent instructions  
  
He froze when he saw the bionic arm curling its fingers on the lab table lit up with JARVIS' scanner.  
  
"'Bout time, Tony," Clint waved to him from across the lab.  Bucky was nearby on the platform, shirtless, with monitoring electrodes stuck to various parts of his body.  
  
"Oh.  Shit," Peter said from behind the lab table with the arm.  
  
"What's happening down here?"  
  
Steve said he wanted Tony to do the research on the arm and now this kid's using his tech to do it?  Clint's in the corner with Barnes like they're old friends?  How long had he been locked upstairs?  
  
Natasha appeared at his side and patted his shoulder.  "I don't know what's going on in your head, or your pants, not my business at the moment - but Cap's got his game face on."  
  
"What's this kid doing here?" Tony asked.  
  
"Your job, apparently.  He's compiling stats on Bucky while Clint and I continue his debrief, aka confessions," Natasha said smoothly.  She flicked her eyes to the adjoining room.  "Cap's conferencing in the office with Bruce and the World Health Organization, so put the reunion aside.  Come meet Bucky."  
  
Tony needed to talk to Steve before talking to his ex.  God, was he even 'ex'?  "Anything I need to know?"  
  
"Just that he loves Steve like burning," Natasha said under her breath.  "And we're pretty sure he's the real deal."  
  
"Shit.  I should wait for Steve, you know I'm going to piss him off," Tony said.  
  
She nodded.  "Yup, and it would be nice if we could record the data if he triggers.  There's also a lot of 'science' that Bruce and Peter have been waiting to run past you."  
  
He deserved the new shovel of guilt, he'd been gone too long.  
  
Bucky's dark eyes sized him up as he approached and he was vaguely aware of Peter muttering at the arm but he didn't turn back to see.  He wasn't a coward, which granted, was hard to believe when he had been hiding from Steve all day.  
  
"Tony Stark," he said, offering his hand on Bucky's empty side.  
  
Bucky smirked.  
  
"Play nice," Natasha said as Tony caught sight of the monitor where the mech arm was flipping him off.  
  
"So you're Howard's kid.  I really hated your dad," Bucky said.  
  
"Oh yeah?" At least he had one thing in common with the guy.  
  
"Yeah, he couldn't keep his hands to himself," Bucky replied.  
  
"If you guys are going to start pissing for territory, give a guy some warning, okay?" Clint nodded to Natasha and she gave Tony a significant look and joined him a few steps away to share a tablet.  
  
Tony knew this wasn't going to be like Sif.  Bucky wasn't going to have a quick explanation to assure him that he wasn't going to take Steve, Bucky was going to fight for him.  
  
And Pepper was going to ask Tony to stop fighting for him.  But she wasn't here right now.  
  
"Can I sit down, kid?" Bucky called over to Peter.  
  
"Don't care, JARVIS is the one checking your numbers," Peter replied.  He looked like he was about to thumbwrestle with the arm.  
  
Bucky kicked at one of Tony's stools and sat down on the opposite one.  "So, we're a little late on a conversation, I think."  
  
"I guess Steve cleared you if he let you down here with the arm," Tony said.  
  
Bucky shrugged.  "I don't know.  I can't read him when he's working.  He came back from a job with the kid and told me to come down here and I've been poked and prodded ever since.  I'm waiting for him to take a break from being Captain America and reassure me over here."  
  
Tony followed his gaze and accepted the seat finally because it gave a good view into the windowed office where Steve and Bruce were pacing around each other in front of the wall of monitors.  "I should probably see what's going on in there."  
  
"Probably not," Bucky said absently.  He glanced at Tony as if reminding himself who he was talking to.  "I mean, he's called for a curfew in the city and grounded everyone on his team.  Word is, he took that kid out with him for the first riot."  He nodded his head toward Peter.  
  
Tony felt like he'd been punched in the gut.  Steve took Spiderman instead of someone on his team?  
  
"Are you the one?"  
  
"What?" Tony asked, tearing his eyes away from the window.  
  
"The one that's going to give him back to me," Bucky replied in a low voice.  "I need him.  And if you loved him as much as he deserves, he wouldn't be dealing with this alone."  
  
"He's not alone, he knew where I was if he needed me," Tony replied, narrowing his gaze at him.  
  
"You were with your girl.  Not _his_ girl, or he would have been there," Bucky challenged.  
  
Tony's vision flared red and he kicked the stool over when he stood up but Bucky's fist was already pulled back.  But Bucky was still on the stool and Tony lunged, meeting it full on and tackling him to the floor.  
  
The guy was scrappy with only one arm but Tony got a couple of shots in, he busted his knuckles and Bucky's nose before Steve's voice filled the space.  
  
" **HEY**."  
  
He froze with his fist reared back and Bucky relaxed the hold he had on Tony's throat.  
  
"I told them to play nice, Cap," Natasha said as Tony pushed himself off of Bucky.  
  
"This isn't funny," Steve said, glaring at her and then at Bucky and Tony in turn.  His eyes were dark and weary.  
  
Bruce moved behind Steve and put his hand on his shoulder.  "I'll deal with this, they've got us through to Melbourne."  
  
Steve closed the door to the office but his fists were clenched when he turned his back to them and faced the monitors.  
  
Tony's on a roll today.  "I need to talk to him," he said.  
  
" _No_ ," Bruce snapped, the sound echoing in the room as everything went silent.  The Hulk had been quiet too long and Bucky even seemed to realize the rising tension.  "Research time over.  Clint, take Bucky upstairs, Natasha, you take Tony.  Peter, lock down the data and go take four hours.  Cap needs you early tomorrow."  
  
"Is he taking the kid out again already?" Clint asked.  
  
"He needs the rest of us here," Bruce said, taking deep breaths.  His eyes flashed green once and settled back into the Bruce that Tony trusted implicitly.  "He needs to not worry about shit like this happening," he added, motioning to Tony and Bucky where they were still sitting on their asses in the floor.  "We don't have time for this."  
  
"Sorry," Tony said, glaring at Bucky when he said it at the same time.  
  
"You're supposed to be on this team, you know how important this is," Bruce said, pulling Tony to his feet and poking him hard in the shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, I do.  I need to see him," Tony said.  Bruce had to let him talk to Steve.  
  
"Not right now.  We've been trying to get linked to Australia for hours, there's a problem with the base compound for the vaccine and we're trying to fix it before we have to divert more resources to the Pacific," Bruce said.  He turned to Clint and Peter.  "Come on, guys, get out of here before Cap has to come out again."  
  
Tony didn't move, he didn't even glance at Natasha when she took his arm.  Bucky, Clint and Peter had taken the arm and hurried out of the workshop with numbers still scrolling down data on JARVIS' main console.  
  
"I'm his second, Bruce, tag me in," Tony said.  "Or give me a real reason why I can't go in there."  
  
"He's been waiting for you, you know?  You or Pepper, but he got radio silence and it hasn't really helped him keep his shit together.  Instead, he's got Bucky giving him sad puppy eyes from time-out and reports of rioting around the country even with the vaccine distribution ahead of schedule.  He doesn't have time for any more emo," Bruce said.  Natasha let go of his arm, nodded at Bruce and hurried out of the room with her phone in her hand.  
  
Steve stuck his head out of the office.  "Bruce, I need Thor, or Xavier's team, right now - there's a hurricane about to make landfall in the Bahamas and we need to buy some time."  His eyes skimmed Tony quickly.  "Tony, if you're available, we need you to work with the meteorologists get their satellites back up - all our reports are coming from the Navy, the weather services have been offline for days."  
  
"What about Melbourne?" Bruce asked, pulling out his phone.  
  
"Johnny didn't put the samples in the right casing and the heat compromised them, he's back in the sky," Steve said.  
  
"Storm?" Tony asked, surprised.  
  
"They lost Sue a few days into it and Reed's off the rails," Steve said.  "He disappeared through a portal a few hours after she passed and Johnny needed something to do."  
  
"That's a pretty big mistake, are you sure..." Tony started.  
  
"He's done fine for Eastern Asia, hit all the countries apart from the Middle East with no problems.  Miami's burning so I have to get this ironed out before I head out," Steve added.  He stepped back into the office without a second look.  
  
"JARVIS - " Tony called.  
  
"I am repositioning the satellites I have access to as we speak but I will require additional bandwidth to maintain current communications in addition to the weather software," JARVIS replied.  
  
He wondered when JARVIS would hit his limit.  "How's your memory?"  
  
"I have commandeered outside servers to ensure optimum performance, Sir, at Captain Rogers' instruction."  
  
"How would Steve know to order that?" Tony asked.  
  
"I don't know why, but he seems to understand things when Peter explains them.  I'm pretty jealous he's bonding with my orphan more than I am, but shit's finally getting done," Bruce muttered.  "Tony, are you okay?"  
  
"I won't be okay until he can look me in the face," Tony said.  
  
"You're not drinking and you're not hiding anymore, so in terms of triage - I have to look out for him right now.  He's got tunnel vision and as much as I hate to say it, he needs to keep it until things settle down."  
  
"How bad?" Tony asked, turning to the closest console and pulling up the satellite stats.  
  
"He won't eat, I finally got him to down a few protein supplements but he's running on double speed and his BP would have sent a normal guy into cardiac arrest by now," Bruce said.  "So whatever you need to say to him..."  
  
"Can wait," Steve finished, stepping out.  "Bruce, can you take over in here?  I may have offended some people in Indonesia because I have no idea how those countries sorted out after the war and I think New Zealand is making fun of me."  
  
"On it," Bruce said.  
  
"Send Johnny through to my comm as soon as he calls, under no circumstances put him through to Grimm.  JARVIS?"  
  
"Understood, Captain," the AI replied.  
  
Bruce patted Steve on the arm and raised his head to murmur something in Steve's ear before closing the office door and finally giving Tony his moment alone with him.  
  
There was so much he needed to say.  
  
"I can't right now, Tony," Steve said.  Tony saw a tremor in his hand as he raised it to his head.  
  
Steve was right, neither one of them was steady enough to have the conversations they needed to.  Tony had listened and argued and yelled over Pepper's confessions, but no one had listened to Steve's side yet.  He walked over and took Steve by the wrist, ignoring the flinch and the twist in his stomach from it.  
  
He led him to one of the stools and fumbled around in a drawer to find his beard trimmer.  "Sit."  
  
"I don't have time..."  
  
"Make time," Tony said, the buzz quiet enough to speak over without raising his voice.  "You told me once it was the little things, shaving, brushing your teeth, shining your shoes.  You said it kept you grounded, the familiarity of the act and the reassurance that even if you weren't having a good day, you were presentable."  
  
Steve's blue eyes were hooded by his lashes but he was pliable under his hands and Tony brushed the stray hairs off his shirt and tidied up the edges of his remaining beard.  He put both hands on his face and made Steve meet his gaze.  
  
"We both know things are out of whack right now.  Things are in flux, in the world and here at home, but some things haven't changed.  You and me, we're partners and friends, _always_ , no matter what.  I will _always_ be here for you.  We have jobs to do, we have to be steady and sure.  You and me, that's something we can be sure of, Steve."  
  
Steve let out a sigh and leaned forward, curling his arms loosely around him.  "I really needed to hear that."  
  
"You're not alone anymore, you've got a fuckton of people that love you."  
  
"That sounds like a lot," Steve huffed into his shoulder.  
  
Tony leaned back and caught sight of the monitor with the staticky satellite images, nudging Steve.  "Look, if Thor can divert the storm, maybe he can douse the fires in Miami - looks like there's a refinery in Alabama that can use some water, too if the smoke pattern's really that bad."  
  
Steve nodded, his eyes clear.  He leaned forward and kissed Tony chastely on the forehead.  "Thank you.  Put your comm in and we'll hook you up with the National Weather Service and NASA.  Send me the plan when you've got it together."  
  
"Come home safe," Tony said, brushing his collar off again and smoothing down his shirt.  "And eat something or Bruce is going to Hulk out and we have enough going on, yeah?"  
  
"Yeah."  Steve hesitated and smoothed his thumbs under Tony's eyes.  "Can I..."  
  
Tony pressed his lips against his and Steve opened for him, like the first time they had given in to each other.  Not the last, Tony wouldn't accept that - but he found himself fisting his hands in Steve's shirt and trying to take everything Steve could give him.  
  
They kissed like they were drowning, sharing air and heat and everything they couldn't say in words.  He needed to show Steve that he was here, alive and part of him, that he wasn't leaving him.  
  
"Sir, I have NASA on the line and Thor is awaiting Captain Rogers on the roof," JARVIS interrupted too soon.  
  
Tony let Steve pull away first, slowly unfurling his fingers from the fabric of his shirt.  "Break's over, Cap.  Time to get back to saving the world," he said.  
  
"Guess so.  Thanks, JARVIS," Steve said.  They locked eyes and Steve reached down and squeezed his hands before hurrying out of the room.  
  
Tony slipped the communicator into the ear before he let himself exhale.  "'Sup, NASA?"

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title belongs to Charles Bukowski
> 
> AN: Things get much worse before they get better.
> 
> Here are all the meddling/omitted subplots that devoured my major plotline:
> 
> 1) The Lady Sif has no desire for a husband, but she has lots of desires. She is not impressed until she meets James Rhodes.  
> 2) Peter is a good kid and Bruce likes having him around - until Johnny Storm moves in and all hell breaks loose.  
> 3) Maria adopted four teenagers. That's four more than she can handle.  
> 4) Darcy likes Peter. Johnny likes Darcy. Peter likes kittens. One of these cannot work with the others.  
> 5) Kittens.  
> 6) Bucky and his sentient arm. His arm loves the kittens.  
> 7) Darcy, Peter and Steve are total bros.  
> 8) Pepper and Sif become BFFs and Sif is the only person that Pepper feels like she can talk to about her twisted relationship drama.  
> 9) There's that whole thing about Odin's obsession with Steve.  
> 10) Johnny's totally wrecked by Sue's death and Reed's exit and things were said between him and Ben that neither can ever take back.


End file.
